13 million kids still knocking at school doors: CAG

New Delhi, Aug 22 (UNI) More than 13 million 6-to-14-year-olds who should have been going to school for a year, are yet to be enrolled, India's Comptroller and Auditor General has reported.

A CAG audit of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan also showed thousands of village schools running without a single teacher, tens of thousands managing do with just one teacher and lakhs of rupees given in grants to non-existent schools.

The Audit showed that afer spending Rs 11,000 crores and two extra years, authorities have yet to send 13.6 million 6-to-14-year-olds to school.

The flagship programme of India's bid to universalise elementary education, the SSA set out in 2001 to enrol 34 million out-of-school children in schools, education guarantee centres, alternate schools and back to school camps by 2003. The deadline was revised to 2005.

But after four years and spending Rs 11,133.57 crore, 40 per cent of them-- some 13.6 million-- were still out of school in March 2005.

Auditors say more than Rs 570 crore were ''irregularly'' diverted to activities beyond the SSA's scope.

Test checks in select districts in 11 states-- Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal-- reflected Rs 99.88 crore thus spent.

'Financial irregularities' were noticed in expenditures running into Rs 472.51 crore in 14 states or union territories.

The SSA norm of 1:40 teacher-student ratio was violated in at least five states, including Bihar, where this ratio fluctuated between 1:60 and 1:130.

Auditors found distribution of teachers among schools uneven.

As many as 6,647 schools in seven states were without any teacher, while 75,884 schools in fifteen states/UT did with just one each.

The position in this respect was especially alarming in Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The SSA had envisioned setting up at least one primary school or Education Guarantee Scheme or Alternative Innovative Education centre within one km of each habitation.

But audit showed 31,648 habitations in 14 states or UTs without such a facility.

In Assam, Bihar and Gujarat, there were some schools with only one classroom against the norm of two rooms with a verandah. In 4,427 schools, headmasters did not have a separate room.

Supply of free textbooks was delayed up to nine months in seven states or UTs-- necessarily affecting students' performance.

On the other hand, 7.46 lakh eligible children were not supplied free text books while 47.69 lakh ineligible students were supplied free textbooks.

Many schools were without buildings, drinking water, toilets-- and separate toilets for girls-- electricity and compound walls.

Auditors raised questions about procurements, such as 7,531 Community TVs purchased in Andhra Pradesh, which could not be utilised without supporting facilities. Some schools given the sets did not even have electricity.

In two districts of Jharkhand, school grant of Rs 47.88 lakh was released to 2,369 schools, which were non-existent.

Norms to identify disabled children were not strictly followed, resulting in failure to assist a large number of them.

Supervision of the scheme was ineffective at national as well as state level, the audit showed.

The first meeting of Governing Council under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister was held in February 2005 and that of the Executive Committee under the chairmanship of the HRD Minister in March 2005.

Even when monitoring was undertaken, reports were either not submitted or not analysed nor was follow-up action initiated.

UNI MJ PR SSC1057