Assam: Complete pending school facilities by 2025-26, urges PAB

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Project Approval Board (PAB) of the Ministry of Education urged the Assam Government to take up completion of facilities in educational institutions that have been pending in a mission mode and ensure 100 percent coverage across all government schools.

They convened a crucial meeting in New Delhi to review Assam’s Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) for 2025-26 under the Samagra Shiksha scheme. In a recent review meeting of the PAB, the Secretary of the Department of School Education & Literacy (DoSE&L), who chaired the meeting, spotlighted significant infrastructural gaps in government schools across the state and stressed time-bound action to achieve full saturation of basic facilities.

As per the UDISE+ 2023-24 data presented during the meeting, while Assam is nearing saturation in key schooling facilities like potable drinking water (98.3%), girls’ toilets (98.7%), and boys’ toilets (96.7%), a substantial number of schools still lack basic infrastructure. Out of 45,008 schools in the state, 1,553 schools have no electricity; 753 lack access to drinking water; 1,075 are without girls’ toilets; 1,472 are without boys’ toilets; 21,137 do not have boundary walls; 7,970 have no playground; 41,867 lack solar panel installations; etc.

Further, as per data from the PRABANDH portal, the cumulative pendency since the inception of Samagra Shiksha includes 1,149 pending additional classrooms (19.43% of the total 5,912 approved); 86,809 pending units of furniture for classes up to VIII (100%); 33 residential quarters pending in KGBV and NSCBAV schools (100%); 118 pending solar panel installations (100%); 24 out of 28 biology labs (92%); 26 chemistry labs (100%); and 19 physics labs (73%). Pending 24 of 35 school upgradations from upper-primary to secondary remain incomplete (69%).

The PAB expressed concern over data inconsistencies on the PRABANDH portal and directed the Assam government to ensure real-time updates and accountability by designated officers.

The Board further advised the state to complete all sanctioned projects by FY 2025-26 or surrender non-viable proposals, enabling reallocation of funds to critical areas. It also called for a detailed district-wise and habitation-wise analysis to identify underserved areas and submit a comprehensive report within a month.

The meeting concluded with an appeal for intensified efforts towards equitable access to infrastructure, ensuring no child is left behind due to inadequate school facilities.

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