Lok Sabha Question No. 139 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-02-03
Subject: Shortage of Teachers in Schools
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Shri Balya Mama Suresh Gopinath Mhatre

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO:- 139 ANSWERED ON-03/02/2024

## Shortage of Teachers in Schools

†139. Shri Balya Mama Suresh Gopinath Mhatre:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  number  of  schools  having  shortage  of  teachers  across  the  country  particularly  in Maharashtra;

(b) the details of steps taken/being taken by the Government in this regard, State-wise;

(c)  whether  the  Government  has  taken  any  initiative  to  promote  digital  education  in Government schools in rural areas, if so, the details thereof, State-wise; and

(d) the steps taken by the Government to promote research work in universities and colleges?

## A N S W E R

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

(a) &  (b):  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  rational  deployment  of  teachers  come under  the  purview  of  the  respective  State  Governments/UT  Administrations.  Further, Recruitment  is  a  continuous  process  and  vacancies  arise  due  to  a  number  of  factors  like retirement, resignation, increased requirement of teachers because of the enhanced students' strength etc. The data regarding the number of schools having shortage of teachers across the country, including the State of  Maharashtra,  are  maintained  by  the  respective State Governments/Union Territory administrations.

As per UDISE+ 2023-24 report, the details of in-position teachers in schools across the country including the state of Maharashtra are available in ANNEXURE at https://www.education.gov.in/parl\_ques .

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. The progress regarding  filling  up  of  teacher  vacancies  through  a  competitive  selection  examination conducted by States/UTs, with due care for consistency and sanctity and after a technology based comprehensive teacher requirement planning and forecasting exercise, is periodically reviewed by the Department of School Education & Literacy with States/UTs.

(c): In order to promote digital education in Government schools, including those in rural areas, a comprehensive initiative called PM e-Vidya has been initiated which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The key initiatives under PM e-Vidya are: -

-  DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) portal and DIKSHA mobile app - a store house of large number of eBooks and e-Contents;
-  SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-learning for Young Aspiring Minds) portal for selfpaced life-long learning;
-  200  PM  e-Vidya  DTH  channels  to  enable  all  States/UTs  to  provide  supplementary education in Indian languages for Classes I to XII;
-  Extensive use of Radio, Community Radio and CBSE Podcast - Shiksha Vani;
-  Special  e-content  for  Children  with  Special  Needs  (CwSN)  developed  on  Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) and in Indian Sign Language (ISL);
-  Digital content broadcast by NCERT on DTH and YouTube channels;

Further, financial support for setting up ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms in schools, including rural  schools,  under  the  centrally  sponsored  scheme  of  Samagra  Shiksha  is  provided  to State/UTs as per scheme norms.

(d):    In  order  to  promote  research  work  in  universities  and  colleges,  the  University  Grants Commission (UGC) has formulated guidelines for 'Establishment of Research & Development Cell' in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) with a vision to put in place a robust mechanism for  developing  and  strengthening  the  research  ecosystem  within  HEIs,  aligned  with  the provisions  of  the  National  Education  Policy  (NEP),  2020.  1,689  HEIs  have  established Research & Development Cells, as per the prescribed UGC guidelines till December, 2024. Further,  UGC  has  introduced  the  UGC  National  Eligibility  Test  (NET)-Junior  Research Fellowship  (JRF)  and  Savitribai  Jyotirao  Phule  Single  Girl  Child  Fellowship  schemes  to support research scholars to pursue Higher Education.

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