Lok Sabha Question No. 229 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-11-25
Subject: Shortage of Teachers in Tribal and Backward Areas
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Murari Lal Meena

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 229 ANSWERED ON-25/11/2024

## Shortage of Teachers in Tribal and Backward Areas

## †229 SHRI MURARI LAL MEENA:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether the Government is aware of the shortage of teachers in tribal and backward areas in the country;

- (b) if so, the details of new policies adopted by the Government in this regard;
- (c) the number of teachers appointed under different policies so far; and

(d) whether the Government is conducting any inspections in these areas for quality education?

## A N S W E R

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a) to (c): Education being a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, an overwhelming majority of the schools in the country comes under the administrative control of States/UTs. The recruitment,  service  conditions  and  deployment  of  teachers,  including  in  backward  and  tribal areas  of  the  country,  come  under  the  purview  of  the  respective  State  Governments/UT Administrations. Further, recruitment is a continuous process and vacancies get generated due to a number of factors like retirement, resignation, increased requirement of teachers as a result of the enhanced students' strength.

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 through Autonomous Teacher Recruitment Boards and for their rational deployment. The Central Government  through  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha  provides  financial assistance to the States and UTs to maintain appropriate Pupil-Teacher 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.

Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs), established in blocks having more that 50% ST population  and  at  least  20,000  tribal  persons  (as  per  census  2011)  by  the  Ministry  of  Tribal Affairs,  aim  at  providing  quality  education  to  tribal  children  in  the  country.  The  National Education  Society  for  Tribal  Students  (NESTS),  an  autonomous  body  created  to  manage  and implement  the  Central  Sector  Scheme  of  EMRSs,  initiated  the  recruitment  process  of  10,391 teaching  and  non-teaching  staff  for  the  operational  schools.  The  examinations  were  held  in December, 2023 and the results were declared in January, 2024. The offer for appointment was handed over in a Rozgar Mela held during February and March, 2024.

(d):  Inspection/supervision of schools is done through Block Resource Centres (BRCs)/Cluster Resource Centres (CRCs) to ensure the quality of education in schools, as per provisions under the  Samagra  Shiksha  Scheme.  Periodic  achievement  surveys  are  also  conducted  by  the Department of School Education and Literacy to monitor quality aspects of school education as well as to undertake evaluation and research studies.