VIJAYAWADA: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report submitted to the State government says that the percentage of students achieving higher grades in SSC in the institutions run by the AP Residential Educational Institutions Society (APREIS) has declined from 90 per cent in 2013 to 74 per cent in 2016, while in BC Welfare department-run schools, the percentage has declined from 93 per cent in 2013 to 76 per cent in 2016.
CAG observed that the performance of students of APREIS schools in securing higher grades has decreased from 90 per cent to 74 per cent in a span of three years from 2013 to 2016, though the overall average pass percentage of the students has increased from 90 per cent to 95 per cent for the same period. The number of schools securing 100 per cent SSC results has declined from 33 schools to 23 schools from 2013 to 2016, it observed.
Likewise, in the schools of BC Welfare Department, the percentage of students achieving higher grades in SSC examinations has declined from 93 per cent to 76 per cent from the year 2013 to 2016. The Grade Point Average (GPA) trend shows, the percentage of students securing GPA below 7 is increasing over the period from 2013 to 2016.
In 2013, 6.73 per cent of students has secured GPA below 7 while in 2016 it increased to 21.91 per cent. While on the other side, students securing GPA above 7 has been decreased from 2013 to 2016. In 2013, 92.9 per cent of students has secured GPA above 7 and in 2016 it decreased to 75.87 per cent.
Staff shortage plagues govt schools
The shortage of teaching staff at APREIS schools was found pronounced by the CAG. As of June 2016, as against 707 sanctioned posts in 47 residential schools, 329 posts were filled on regular basis and remaining were filled on contract basis. The vacancies of the teaching staff is more than 50 per cent.
Coming to the shortages of staff in BC Welfare schools, 91 per cent of arts, crafts and music teacher posts were lying vacant. The post of librarian remained unfilled in one in every three schools. 14 out of 29 posts of physical director were vacant. Except for Amalapuram, computer education tutors were not available at any of the institutions during the audit. As many as 20 out of 21 schools that were audited do not have any tutor for computer education.
With all those factors playing a role, quality of education has come down and pass percentage of higher grades too has declined. It was observed that in 32 out of 34 residential schools, there was a shortage of 605 toilets and bathrooms against the requirement of 1,280 toilets and bathrooms. In nine out the 34 schools, the shortfall is more than 20 against 40 required toilets and bathrooms. In four schools, the shortage is severe where less than five toilets are only available to the students out of the required 40.
