According to data calculated by the Lok Sakha and the HRD Minister on 5th Dec, 2016, 15 % positions of teachers in government-run secondary schools and 18 % in primary schools are vacant across the country.
This goes to mean that one out of six teaching positions is empty in govt. schools – that is a total shortage of a million teachers.
Where Lies the Problem?
The average vacancies across the country is represented by these figures; a few of the states have no vacancies at all. However, in some of the states, more than half the positions are empty; these are mostly states that have lower literacy rates. According to the India’s education data of 2015-16, out of country’s 260 million schoolchildren, close to 55 % attend govt. schools.
Out of India’s 36 states and UTS, Jharkhand suffers from the most severe shortage of secondary school teachers with only 30 % positions occupied; the elementary level has 38 % positions filled. In Uttar Pradesh, half the positions of secondary school teachers are vacant while it’s a third in Gujarat and Bihar.
A lack of regular recruitment, small schools, bungled deployment of teachers, not clearing position, and shortage of expert teachers for specific subjects are quoted to be the reasons for the shortage of teachers.
Nationwide, government schools have 6 million teaching positions. Out of these, around 900,000 teaching positions in elementary schools and 100,000 positions in secondary schools are empty, making up to 1 million positions together.
Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh – the large Hindi-speaking states – have a population of 333 million people. In these states, there is a collective shortage of a one-fourth of the primary and secondary school teachers required.
Other Figures
The states with zero vacancies in elementary teaching positions are Sikkim, Odisha and Goa.
Larger states that are closest to having completely filled teaching positions in govt. secondary schools are Himachal Pradesh (3.9 %), Assam (3.9 %) and Maharashtra (2 %). For secondary schools’ teacher positions, Sikkim and Mizoram report zero vacancies. Seemingly, the country’s Hindi speaking regions suffer from the highest vacancies in teaching positions.
Sikkim is the only state in the country with absolutely no vacancies in both primary and secondary schools.
From the Hindi-speaking North India, bigger cities and UTs like the NCR of Delhi and Chandigarh show similar shortages in teaching positions that are prevalent in the poorer Hindi regions – the two cities report a shortage of 25 % teachers in govt. elementary schools.