Indian Teachers' Absenteeism In Unesco Report

New Delhi, Nov 28 (UNI) Indian teachers not showing up in classrooms figured in a United Nations agency's latest report but the nation's universalisation programme ''has addressed this issue,'' Parliament was told today.

The Education for All Global Monitoring Report - 2007 has been put out by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Human Resource Development Daggubati Purandareswari said the Report ''is not India specific,'' although it referred to India extensively.

The Report held that India ranked 99th in the list with a composite Education for All Development Index of 0.789, she noted.

It took note of a Nationwide Sample Survey on out of school children by the Social and Rural Research Institute in 2005 and said the number of out of school children halved from 25 million in 2002 to 13.5 million in 2005, she said.

The Survey was commissioned by the government under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

In the matter of teacher absenteeism, Purandareswari said the Report included India in a group of six developing countries.

The issue was addressed under the SSA by decentralising management and supervision of schools through Village Education Committees and Panchayati Raj Institutions to ensure better local accountability of schools and teachers to the Community, she said.

She said under the SSA-- including National Programme for Education of Girls at Elementary Level and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya Scheme-- girls' education was clearly targeted.

She said emphasis was laid on educating girls from weaker sections such as scheduled castes and tribes and other backward classes or those living in areas with low female literacy.

Purandareswari said although it was titled the 2007 Report, the data it used ''is from 2004.'' In the case of India, she said, it used the 2001 population census data and ''does not accurately reflect the present situation.'' UNI MJ RP VV1912