Meghalaya�s teacher-classroom ratio highest in NE

Shillong, Feb 17 (PTI) : Despite having a high schooldrop-out rate, Meghalaya has registered 84.2 per cent of''teacher classroom ratio'', the highest in the Northeast,according to the Annual Status of Education Report today.

Right To Education norms indicate that there should beone classroom for every teacher and that a school withenrollment of 61-90 students should have three teachers.

The report reveals that 45.5 per cent of schools in thestate have playgrounds, 23.9 per cent have drinking waterfacility, 27.4 per cent have �usable toilets� including 15.9for girls and 59.4 have kitchens for cooking (mid-day meals).

The report also brings to light the fact that almost 60per cent of pupils studying in class V in both government andpublic schools in the state do not know the art of division inarithmetic, while almost 20 per cent pupils in class III areunable to even recognize numbers.

According to the report prepared by Pratham, an NGO, over50 per cent of pupils in class III cannot read class I leveltext books and over 30 per cent of class V kids cannot fathomwhat�s written in class II syllabus in their own language.