India's 95% villages have schools within 5km, government tells Lok Sabha

Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said the government is committed to providing quality education by enhancing the standard of education and school infrastructure in the country

More than 95% of villages in the country have secondary schools within a distance of 5km, Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said on March 21. She also informed Lok Sabha that more than 90% of villages have senior secondary schools within a distance of 7km.

The Minister asserted that the government is committed to providing quality education by enhancing the standard of education and school infrastructure in the country, including in rural areas.

"As per the Geographic Information System (GIS) based mapping conducted in 2021-22 on government-, government-aided- and private schools, 95.48% of villages were covered by secondary schools within a distance of 5km and 90.55% of villages were covered by senior secondary schools within a distance of 7km," she said.

The Minister said a number of initiatives have been taken by the Central government to improve the standard of school education, including the Samagra Shiksha scheme which has been aligned to the recommendations of the National Education Policy 2020.

The Samagra Shiksha is a Centrally-sponsored integrated scheme extending from pre-school to Class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all the levels of school education. “It focusses on improvement in quality of education by providing support for different interventions like in-service training of teachers and school heads, conduct of achievement surveys, composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants for library, sports and physical activities, etc.,” she said.