30-04-2025
As deadline ends today, over 86% Maharashtra schools complete geo-tagging process
Over 86 per cent of schools in Maharashtra have completed the geo-tagging process as of April 30, the deadline set by the government, according to data available on the MahaSchool portal.
Out of the 1,08,301 schools in the state, 93,548 schools, that constitute 86.38 per cent, have been mapped while 14,753 remain unmapped, the data said.
The School Education and Sports Department, through a government resolution dated March 23, mandated schools to complete a 'geo-tagging' process involving the capture of the Geographic Information System (GIS) location, which includes the latitude and longitude along with the timestamp.
In addition, the schools are bound to upload five photos of the school building, the kitchen shed, the boys' and girls' washrooms, and the drinking water facility on the 'Maha School GIS' mobile application.
As per the latest update, Sindhudurg district has the highest percentage of schools mapped at 97.76, while Mumbai (Suburban) has the lowest at 73.46 per cent. In terms of numbers, Pune has the highest number of schools mapped at 6,648 schools, while Hingoli has the lowest at 1,024.
The circular stated that geo-tagging of schools is being done as the Unified District Information System For Education Plus (UDISE +) portal does not have data like the physical locations of these schools, settlements, villages, roads, and highways, the distance between two schools, and facilities provided by other government facilities near these schools.
It contained only information like the number of schools and teachers, and facilities available in the school.
To fill this gap, a contract was signed with the Maharashtra Remote Sensing Application Centre (MRSAC) on February 5. Under this, data of various departments available with MRSAC and UDISE + data will be combined and made available on a separate dashboard.
The Maha School GIS, which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on April 22, has also been developed by the MRSAC. Maharashtra Commissioner for Education Sachindra Pratap Singh was unavailable for a comment.
