Manipur schools have poor facilities for girls’ toilets, report says

Imphal: Girls’ toilets in Manipur schools are often not functional, despite government initiatives, due to poor maintenance, lack of staff, and absence of a water supply.

This shortage of usable sanitation facilities forces girls to miss school, particularly during menstruation, and remains a significant issue even though new toilets have been constructed under programs like the Swachh Vidyalaya Initiative.

According to a report published by the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE ), an educational management information system under the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India, as many as 890 toilet facilities in Manipur schools are not functional due to improper infrastructure development.

Of these, 420 of the 3,894 toilet facilities for girls and 470 of the 4,010 boys’ toilet facilities are not functional. Moreover, 310 schools have no power supply despite being equipped with electricity.

The UDISE 2024-25 report also stated that no students were enrolled at 35 schools, while 60 teachers are employed at schools without any students.

A total of 383 schools, with 9,115 students, employ only one teacher each. The report further noted that 60.06 per cent of the 41,890 teachers, that is 24,920 teachers, teach at the secondary level, while 8,705 teach from pre-primary to Class V, and 7,861 teach from Class VI to VIII.

The report revealed that 383 of the 4,666 schools in Manipur have only one teacher each. It also noted that 64.05 per cent of students from pre-primary to secondary level are enrolled in private schools, while 34.65 per cent attend government and government-aided schools.

A total of 673,118 students from pre-primary to secondary level are enrolled across various schools in the state, including 208,052 in government schools, 25,191 in government-aided schools, and 431,156 in private schools.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio or GER shows that GER for Scheduled Caste students is above 100 per cent, while for Scheduled Tribe students it is low at the secondary level.

GER stands at 91.9 per cent for pre-primary to Class II, 130.9 per cent for Classes III to V, 92.8 per cent for Classes VI to VIII, and 68.7 per cent for Classes IX to XII.

The report added that 41,490 teachers are teaching 673,118 students across 4,666 schools in Manipur, with a pupil-teacher ratio of 16 to 1. On average, each school has nine teachers.