The National Statistical Organization (NSO) has made an estimate that almost 60 percent of students in India walk to school. This number is higher in rural areas. This is according to the latest report of NSO.
The percentage of girls traveling to school on foot is higher than the average at about 62 percent. However, the percentage of boys traveling to school on foot is 57.9 percent.
The same trend is also observed when data for rural and urban areas are looked at separately.
In rural areas, about 61.4 percent of boys walk to school and 66.5 percent of girls walk to school. While in urban areas, 57.9 percent of boys and 62 percent of girls walk to school.
The second most preferred mode of travel is public transport. About 12.4 percent of students use public transport in the country. In rural areas, 11.3 percent of students use public transport as a mode of travel. However, the percentage is a little higher in urban areas with 15.3 percent.
Information on how regularly students avail the concessional fare in public transport for attending educational institutions was also collected. An average of 48.3 percent of students receives a concession when using public transport. The number is higher in rural areas with 51.3 percent compared to 42.7 percent in urban areas.
The distance between students’ households and schools was also taken into context. It was found that in rural areas 92.7 percent of households reported availability of primary school within 1 km from the house. Also in urban areas, the number is 87.2 percent.
About 68 percent of rural households and 80 percent of urban households report the presence of upper primary school within 1 km.
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