Sources of Data on Schools in Karnataka

The government actually makes available a lot of data on schools in the state. The websites don't always work, and the data isn't always accurate, but it's worth taking a look.

http://www.schoolreportcards.in

This website allows you to search for a specific government school anywhere in India and get a "school report card" for it. The website announces that they have over a million school report cards available. The data for 2007-08 isn't up for Karnataka yet, but you can look at the 2006-07 data.

The "detailed school report" I got for one school was a bit outdated -- it drew from data from September 2006 -- but included a lot of information. Here's just one small excerpt:

"Facilities in School

The school has one building block which is housed in a Government building. It has got 8 classrooms for instructional purposes. A total of 3 classrooms are in good condition. On the other hand, none of the classroom(s) needs major repairs. It has no other room for non-teaching activities.

The school has got pucca but broken boundary wall. The school has electricity connection. The source of Drinking Water in the school is Hand Pump. The school has a common toilet but does not have a separate toilet for girls. The school has a playground. The school has a book-bank and has 895 books in its library. The school did not arrange medical check-up for its students during the previous academic year. It has got ramp for the disabled children. The school has got 9 blackboards for the use of teachers and 2 blackboards at the ground level for the use of children. The school does not have a computer."

http://www.dise.in

This website offers a lot of good big-picture statistics at the state and district levels across India, including pupil-teacher ratios, numbers of schools (private and public), enrolment, dropout, and school facilities (type of building, drinking water, etc.). The information on what children actually learn is patchy, but it gives you an idea of what the government is trying to provide.

http://kar.nic.in/schools

Provides a scanned list of schools in each educational block, including private schools (both government aided and unaided)

http://karnatakaeducation.gov.in/index.asp

The official website of the Education Secretariat (Karnataka). Includes information about the way the department is structured and some basic budget information.

http://www.schooleducation.kar.nic.in/

The official website of the Department of Public Instruction (Karnataka). It has a "DataBank" with district-wise school statistics. The site also contains budget information and a "School Search" option, which allows you to search for a school and get basic information about it.

Data availability is not too bad in the state. The challenge is in making good use of it.