Lok Sabha Question No. 237 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-02-05
Subject: Shortage of Teachers in Schools
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, Ganesan Selvam, Kuldeep Rai Sharma, Supriya Sadanand Sule, Amol Ramsing Kolhe, DNV Senthilkumar. S., Subhash Ramrao Bhamre

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO:- 237

ANSWERED ON-05/02/2024

## Shortage of Teachers in Schools

## 237. SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMAR:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI KULDEEP RAI SHARMA:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE:

DR. DNV SENTHILKUMAR S.:

DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  there  is  continuous  shortage  of  school  teachers  in  several  schools  of  Tamil  Nadu, Maharashtra  and  Andaman  and  Nicobar  Islands  particularly  in  the  rural  areas  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;

(b) the details of the number of schools facing the shortage of teachers and also the details of the number of vacancies of school teachers in schools, district-wise;

(c) whether the Government has taken any measures to fill up the vacancies of teachers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andaman and Nicobar Islands particularly in the rural areas;

- (d) if so, the details thereof; and

(e) the other steps taken by the Government to provide quality education to children in rural areas?

## A N S W E R

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a) to (d): The recruitment of teachers in schools is a continuous process as vacancies keep arising due to factors  like  retirement,  resignation  and  additional  requirements  on  account  of  enhanced  students' strength/new  schools.  Education  is  a  subject in the concurrent  list of  the  Constitution  and  an overwhelming majority  of  schools  are  under  the  administrative  control  of  respective  State  and  Union Territory Governments. States may ensure that the vacancies are filled up in a time bound and transparent manner. The number of vacancies of teachers across all levels of schooling, as reported by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andaman & Nicobar Islands for the academic session 2023-24 is given below:

|   Sl. No. | Name of the State/UT     |   Vacancy of Teachers reported by State/UT |
|-----------|--------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
|         1 | Andaman &Nicobar Islands |                                       1078 |
|         2 | Maharashtra              |                                      57749 |
|         3 | Tamil Nadu               |                                       2266 |

The  Department  of  School  Education  and  Literacy,  from  time  to  time,  through  review  meetings  and advisories, requests the State Governments and UT administrations to fill up these vacancies and their rational  deployment.  Further,  the  Central  Government  through  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of Samagra  Shiksha,  provides  financial  assistance  to  the  States  and  UTs  to  maintain  appropriate  PupilTeacher Ratio (PTR) for various levels of schooling, as per norms prescribed in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, as amended from time to time.

- (e): In pursuance of the goals and objectives of the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), several steps have been taken to provide quality education to children, including children in rural areas. These include  National  Initiative  for  Proficiency  in  Reading  with  Understanding  and  Numeracy  (NIPUN Bharat) for ensuring universal foundational literacy and numeracy by the end of Grade 3; introduction of Vidya-Pravesh-Guidelines for Three-month Play-based School Preparation Module; launch of National Curriculum  Framework  for  School  Education  (NCF  SE)  and  National  Curriculum  Framework  for Foundational Stage (NCF FS) in pursuance of NEP 2020; and introduction of Jadui Pitara: a play-based teaching learning material tailored for children between the age group of 3 to 8 years. For continuous inservice  training  of  teachers,  NISHTHA  (National  Initiative  for  School  Heads'  and  Teachers'  Holistic Advancement) for different stages of school education for Teachers, Head Teachers/Principals and other stakeholders in Educational Management is being conducted.

A  comprehensive  initiative  called  PM  eVIDYA  has  been  launched  as  part  of  AtmaNirbhar  Bharat Abhiyaan  unifying  all  efforts  related  to  digital/online/on-air  education  to  enable  multimode  access  to education.  The  initiative  includes  DIKSHA  (one  nation,  one  digital  platform)  as  the  nation's  digital infrastructure  for  providing  quality  e-content;  Swayam  Prabha  TV  channel  for  classes  1  to  12;  use  of Radio,  Community  radio  and  CBSE  Podcast-  Shiksha  Vani;  and  Special  e-content  for  visually  and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/YouTube, etc.

Vidya Samiksha Kendra (VSK), a digital infrastructure ecosystem which provides tools to administrators to effectively monitor the progress of education by leveraging data and technology, has been introduced in 12 States.

Apart from the above, financial assistance is provided to States under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra  Shiksha  for  providing  quality  education  including  skill  education  to  all  children.  Under  the Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  PM  POSHAN  (POshan SHAkti Nirman)  one  hot  cooked  meal  is provided to all eligible children in Government and Government-aided schools.

*****