CAG Audit Flags Dropouts, Teacher Crunch, Fund Gaps in West Bengal's Samagra Shiksha
UPSC / SSC current affairs note · Governance
Why in news
The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has released a performance audit report on the Samagra Shiksha scheme in West Bengal, highlighting severe issues like high dropout rates, teacher shortages, and poor fund utilisation. This report is significant as it exposes systemic flaws in the state's school education implementation, drawing attention to governance and social sector challenges.
Background
Samagra Shiksha is a centrally sponsored scheme for school education, covering pre-primary to higher secondary levels. The CAG audit covered the period 2019-20 to 2023-24, examining scheme execution across West Bengal, including field surveys in six districts.
Key facts
The audit found a 28-42% transition loss between upper primary and higher secondary levels in West Bengal.
A field survey of 581 out-of-school children across 21 high schools in six districts was conducted.
53% of surveyed parents cited financial distress as the main reason for children dropping out.
Other dropout reasons: 14% unwillingness to study, 13% migration for work, 12% early marriage.
520 schools in the state had no teachers, affecting 8,596 students.
8% of schools ran with a single teacher, impacting 1,76,491 students.
40,530 head teachers were posted in schools with fewer than 150 students, violating Right to Education norms.
29% of primary and 30% of upper primary schools failed to meet minimum Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) norms.
There was a deficit of 31,684 primary and 2,058 upper primary teachers.
At higher secondary level, 79% of schools exceeded prescribed PTR limits.
Prelims pointers
- CAG: Comptroller and Auditor General of India
- Samagra Shiksha: Centrally sponsored scheme for school education
- Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009
- Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) norms
- West Bengal: State in eastern India
- Audit period: 2019-20 to 2023-24
Mains angles
- Discuss the role of CAG in ensuring accountability in social sector schemes.
- Critically examine the implementation of Samagra Shiksha in India, with special reference to West Bengal.
- Analyse the causes and consequences of high dropout rates in Indian schools.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of teacher deployment policies in achieving universal school education.