To be more precise, there are at least 55 secondary schools in the state which have been scoring zero per cent result in the SSC examination for the past five years (1994-98). Of the total 5,600-odd schools, about 700 have been scoring less than 20 per cent result for the same period.

Whatever is wrong with these schools that not even a single student passes? Is it bad management, incompetent teachers, or poor family background of students that take their toll on education?

Take for instance, Asian High School, Lavar Sheri, Saraspur, whose entire class X has been failing for the last three years. The school building is an old, rickety two-storey structure, with just three classrooms, one each for standard VIII, IX, and X. The post of principal is vacant for the last two years. ``The office of district education officer (DEO) is not giving no objection certificate (NoC) to appoint a new principal,'' says principal (in-charge) B.K. Patel.

Against the required strength of six teachers, the school has only four. The school makes do with just one peon; two posts are vacant. This means some unpleasant job for the teachers. ``Sometimes when the peon is on leave, we have to ring the bell,'' says teacher Govindbhai Chuvadia.

However, teachers blame the students' poor family background for the dismal performance in SSC. ``Most of our students come from extremely poor families. Many parents being daily-wagers, they pay little attention to their children's education,'' says Patel. Some students are from such poor families that they cannot even pay SSC examination fee of about Rs 150, says another teacher, Ashok Patel.

The teachers also blame dismal education quality in municipal primary schools, from which most student take admission to Asian School's class VIII. ``The students we get in class VIII are so dull at studies that they cannot even write their own name,'' says Patel. ``We have to start from a scratch. We teach them alphabets in class VIII. How can they understand a word of maths or science?''

Besides, many students work part-time to support their families, leaving little time for studies. Says Ajit G. Rana, a class X student who works in a ready-made garment factory and earns about Rs 40 daily, ``I hardly get time for studies.''

Getting tough with the students is counterproductive, say teachers. ``If a students has not done homework and I send him home as a punishment, he will give up studies,'' says Patel. Failing students in class VIII or IX also ineffective. ``How many students can we fail? After all, we need students to run the classes,'' he explains.

Despite having students who do not even know elementary grammar or maths, teachers go on to complete the syllabuses. ``It is pointless to teach these students maths or science when they cannot do simple multiplication,'' Patel says, pointing to some algebraic equations written on the black-board.

Arpan Education High School, Pittalia Pol, Sarangpur, is no different. The SSC results are abysmal: while no student passed the exam in March 1998, only one cleared it this year. In March 1997, only three students passed the examination.

Clerk Prahladbhai Patel says that most students work part-time. ``Many students leave for work during recess. We often have to seat guard at the main entrance to ensure that students do not run away,'' says teacher Sushilaben Shah. The school also blames the municipal schools for herding the students into the next class without giving them even basic education.

Gujarat Secondary Education Board (GSEB) chairman G.D. Vyas says the board has identified 1,0000 low-performance schools and has devised plan to improve their quality. An expert committee has submitted a report on reforming these schools, and GSEB ``is analysing it'', he says.