Shortfall of over 19,000 classrooms in state-run Gujarat schools
India Today
In the Legislative Assembly, the Gujarat government admitted that there was a shortfall of over 19,000 classrooms in various state-run primary schools.
On Monday, the Gujarat government in the Legislative Assembly admitted that there was a shortfall of over 19,000 classrooms in various state-run primary schools as of December 2021. Responding to a set of questions raised by the opposition, Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani informed the House that these classrooms will be built at the earliest.
While there was a shortfall of 19,128 classrooms in state-run primary schools as of December 2021, the Gujarat government has also built 2,714 new classrooms during the last two years, Vaghani said in a written reply.
Out of 33 districts in Gujarat, tribal dominated Dahod tops the list with a shortfall of 1,688 classrooms, followed by Banaskantha at 1,532, Bhavnagar 966, Mehsana 947and Sabarkantha 941.
Further, it was also revealed that 23 state-run primary schools are functioning without any electricity. Nine such schools are in Gir-Somnath district, followed by 7 in Porbandar, 3 in Morbi, 2 in Kutch, and one each in Devbhumi-Dwarka and Surendranagar districts.
It was also revealed that as many as 5,439 state-run primary schools and 272 private primary schools do not have any compound wall surrounding their campuses.
Notably, in the budget presented on March 3, the Gujarat government announced that it will spend Rs 937 crore in 2022-23 to construct 10,000 new classrooms in existing primary and secondary schools run by the government.
(With PTI inputs)
