CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu witnessed a drop in the number of schools, both government and private, having computers - from 28.6% in 2018 to 23.8% in 2022 - according to the Annual Status Education Report. As per the report’s last publication from 2018, percentage of students using computers also dipped from 29.3% to 19.4%.
The national report was published last week by Pratham Education Foundation following a nationwide survey. It covered 31 districts, 920 villages, 18,312 households, and 30,737 children in the age group 3 to 16 years across the state.
The data comes in a post-pandemic world, where the state government announced measures to propel online education to equip the schools with computers and internet facilities. Even the budget for 2022 included the state announcing plans to set up smart classrooms and train teachers to handle online classes. Of the surveyed schools, almost 20% don’t have a library. In 2018, only 16.2% schools didn’t provide the facility.
Dismissing the figures, Tamil Nadu Graduate Teachers’ Federation general secretary P Patrick Raymond told TNIE, “There is some serious discrepancy in the figures or the survey’s sampling method. Majority of the schools in the state has computers as teachers need to upload various information on the Educational Management Information System (EMIS).”