Access to education in India faces several significant structural barriers that impact how children travel to and study at school. Many rural students must walk several kilometres across rough terrain, forests or rivers just to reach the nearest school. A recent case has come to light where students in Vidisha, MP have to jump over slippery concrete pillars of a stop dam on the swollen Betwa river to reach school. They use this as a short cut because the regular road to their school is 15 km. long and that too for a major part is submerged during the monsoons. A lack of secure transportation options and poor road infrastructure puts children, especially girls at risk during their daily commute.
Many schools still struggle with overcrowded classrooms, lack of electricity and clean drinking water, @ zero teachers, absence of a playground and a shortage of functional, gender-segregated toilets among other things. The proportion of the Union Budget allocated to the Ministry of Education has decreased from 4.6% in 2013 to 2.5% in recent times. Looks like things will only get more bleak for India going forward. Breaks my heart as a teacher.
REKHA SARIN, Benaulim
