...continued

However, there is clear evidence of improvement according to these surveys. To start with, school participation has improved dramatically. Twenty percent of children in the 6-12 age group were out of school in 1996. In 2006, hardly 5 percent of such children were not enrolled in school.

Along with this, stark social disparities in school enrollment have virtually disappared at the primary level, whether it is the gap between boys and girls or that between children from different castes.

The report goes on to say that attendance does not imply learning. Even in functional schools, levels of teaching activity were absymally low. One reason is the widespread shortage of teachers. Evto en though there was a major increase in the number of teachers appointed, the pupil-teacher ratio in the survy areas showed little improvement over the years.

...to be continued