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| August 1, 2002 | Thursday | Jamadi-ul-Awwal 21,1423 |
Enrolment in NWFP govt schools declines
PESHAWAR, July 31: Enrolment in the NWFP’s public sector primary schools fell by 3 per cent during 2001-02, a statistical report said.
Total enrolment in the state-run primary schools is 2.02 million (1.258 million boys and 761,575 girls) while the number of children admitted last year was 2.047 million, showing a 3pc reduction.
The report prepared by the Education Management Information System shows a gradual decrease in the primary school enrolment during the last few years.
The dropout rate in primary schools is 44pc (40pc among boys and 51pc among girls) while the school completion rate is 56pc.
The government has recently set up school attendance authorities at the union council and district levels, and authorized the area magistrates to take action against the defaulting parents.
Officials believed that private schools were providing better education facilities to children. “Parents prefer to get their children admitted to the private sector schools,” an official of the Directorate of Primary Education and Literacy remarked, adding that the government-run schools’ standard was not up to the mark.
The report said that there was an overall increase in the number of primary and secondary schools during the last year. The total number of primary schools in the NWFP is 22,573 — 14,855 are for boys and 7,718 for girls. The number of secondary schools is 3,608.
Strangely, 3,159 primary schools have one teacher each and 5,706 schools have two teachers each. On the other hand, the province has 76,18 teachers in surplus, proving poor planning by the authorities concerned.
Officials said the education department was working out a mechanism to adjust surplus teachers in those districts where additional staff was required. A formula has been evolved according to which there will be one teacher for 50 children.
The government has banned the construction of school buildings in the province to streamline the teacher-student ratio.
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