India's 95 per cent villages have schools within 5 km, govt tells Lok Sabha

New Delhi: Over 95 per cent of villages in the country have secondary schools within a distance of five kilometres, Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said on Monday. She also informed Lok Sabha that more than 90 per cent of villages have senior secondary schools within a distance of seven kilometres.

The minister asserted that the government is committed to providing quality education by enhancing the standard of education and school infrastructure in the country, including in rural areas.

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"As per the Geographic Information System (GIS) based mapping conducted in 2021-22 on government, government-aided and private schools, 95.48 per cent of villages were covered by secondary schools within a distance of five kilometres and 90.55 per cent of villages were covered by senior secondary schools within a distance of seven kilometres," she said.

The minister said a number of initiatives have been taken by the central government to improve the standard of school education, including the 'Samagra Shiksha' scheme which has been aligned to the recommendations of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The 'Samagra Shiksha' is a centrally sponsored integrated scheme extending from pre-school to Class 12 and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.

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It focuses on improvement in quality of education by providing support for different interventions like in-service training of teachers and school heads, conduct of achievement surveys, composite school grant to every school for providing a conducive learning environment, grants for library, sports and physical activities, etc., she said.