Only 39% of schools had computers in 2019-20: UDISE+

New Delhi: According to the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report released on Tuesday, only 39 per cent of schools countrywide had computers, and only 22 per cent had an internet connection in 2019-20.

"About 39 pc schools in India had computers in 2019-20, an improvement by more than 6 pc over the previous year. More than 22 pc schools in India had internet connectivity in 2019-20, an improvement of more than 3.5 pc over the previous year," the report said. However, over 83 per cent had electricity in the time frame, a 7 per cent improvement from 2018-19.

"In 2012-13, about 54.6 pc schools had electricity. More than 84 pc schools in India had a library/reading room/reading corner in 2019-20, an improvement of nearly 4 pc compared to the previous year. In 2012-13, about 69.2 pc schools had library/ reading room/ reading corner," it said.

The report also noted an increase in the number of children enrolled in schools. 26.45 crore students were enrolled in school education from pre-primary to higher secondary in 2019-2020, a 42.3 lakh increase compared to 2018-19.

"In 2019-20, total students in school education from primary to higher secondary is a little above 25.09 crores. This is higher by 26.3 lakhs compared to 2018-19. There is a net addition of 42.3 lakh students in school education in the year 2019-20 compared to 2018-19 which is higher by 1.6 per cent," the report said. Meanwhile, the number of girls enrolled in schools have increased at all levels, with the pre-primary level recording the highest increase. Likewise, the number of teachers in school education has surged by 2.72 per cent compared to the previous year. In 2019-20, 96.87 lakh teachers were engaged in school education, about 2.57 lakhs higher than in 2018-19.

The report further notes an improvement in the Gross Enrollment Ratio at all levels compared to 2018-19. "The GER increased to 89.7 pc (from 87.7 pc) at Upper Primary level, 97.8 pc (from 96.1 pc) at Elementary Level, 77.9 pc (from 76.9 pc) at Secondary Level and 51.4 pc (from 50.1 pc) at Higher Secondary Level in 2019-20 (from 2018-19)," it said.

"Between 2012-13 and 2019-20, the GER for girls at both secondary and higher secondary level has increased more than that of the boys. GER for girls at the secondary level has gone up by 9.6 pc to reach 77.8 pc in 2019-20, it was 68.2 pc in 2012-13," it added.

Furthermore, compared to 2012-13 when only 36.3 per cent of schools had a hand-wash facility, in 2019-20, about 90 per cent of schools had it. Furthermore, over 82 per cent of schools conducted a medical check-up of students in 2019-20. This is over a 4 per cent increase from the previous year and about a 20 per cent increase from 2012-13.

UDISE is one of the largest Management Information Systems on school education and covers over 1.5 million schools, 8.5 million teachers and 250 million children. It was initiated in 2012-13 by the Ministry of Education integrating DISE for elementary education and SEMIS for secondary education. UDISE+ is an updated and improved version of the same.