New Delhi: There is a marked improvement in the basic education scenario in the country as most children get access to schools with exceptions to states like Arunchal Pradesh and West Bengal, which are lagging behind, a government survey released Friday said.

As per the survey, there is one upper primary school for every set of 2.27 primary schools as compared to 2.45 schools in 2006. In many states, the ratio is one each to two and all this “suggests that by and large schooling facilities have been created and are available across the country”.

“Despite significant improvement in the ratio, there are a few states, such as Arunachal Pradesh (4.16) and West Bengal (5.48), where the ratio still needs to be improved significantly,” the survey conducted by the government-run National University of Educational Planning and Administration, said.

The number of schools imparting elementary education has improved from 1.19 million in 2006-07 to 1.28 million across 633 districts of the country now. Of the total schools, about 87.30 percent are located in the rural areas. Category-wise distribution of schools reveals that majority of the schools (62.94 percent) are independent primary schools.

According to the report, launched by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal Friday, the boy-girl enrolment ratio is improving fast.

The gender parity index of girls’ enrolment found that on an average 94 girls get enrolled in primary classes for every 100 boys getting admitted. And in upper primary classes, around 91 girls are getting enrolled for every 100 boys.

-- IANS