Lok Sabha Question No. 1642 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-03-10
Subject: Shortage of Qualified Teachers in Rural Schools under SSA
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Dr. Amol Ramsing Kolhe, Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh, Smt. Supriya Sule, Shri Sanjay Dina Patil, Shri Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

## DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO:- 1642

ANSWERED ON-10/03/2025

## Shortage of Qualified Teachers in Rural Schools under SSA

1642. Shri Mohite Patil Dhairyasheel Rajsinh:

Shri Bhaskar Murlidhar Bhagare:

Smt. Supriya Sule:

Dr. Amol Ramsing Kolhe:

Shri Sanjay Dina Patil:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a) whether rural schools across the country face severe shortage of qualified teachers under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA);

(b) if so, the number of vacancies of teachers in village schools in Maharashtra during the last three years;

(c)  whether  any  incentives  such  as  rural  allowances  or  housing  facilities  are  being  provided  to teachers in remote villages, if not, the reasons therefor;

(d)  whether any special training programs or workshops are conducted to upskill teachers in these areas, if so, the details thereof;

(e)  whether  teachers  in  village  schools  are  provided  specialized  training  for  handling  multi -grade teaching scenarios;

(f)  whether  the  Government  is  leveraging  technology  for  teacher  training  in  rural  areas,  if  so,  the details of digital tools and e-learning platforms being used for teacher training;

(g)  if  so,  the  number  of  teachers  who  have  undergone  such  training  during  the  last  three  years, State/UT-wise;

(h) whether the Government is collaborating with NGOs/private institutions/international organizations to enhance the teacher training in village schools; and

(i) if so, the details of such collaborations and the impact observed in rural areas?

## A N S W E R

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

(a) to (c): The data regarding the number of rural schools having shortage of qualified teachers across the  country  as  well  as  the  number  of  vacancies  of  teachers  in  village  schools  of  Maharashtra  are maintained by the respective State Governments/Union Territory administrations.

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  including  rural  allowances  or  housing  facilities  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  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.

(d)  to  (g):  In  order  to  provide  continuous  professional  development  opportunities  to  the  teachers, NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads' and Teachers' Holistic Advancement) program has been introduced by the National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT). It aligns with  the  NEP  2020's  focus  on  enhancing  teacher  competency,  fostering  innovative  pedagogical practices, and integrating technology into education. The NISHTHA training programme is available on the DIKSHA portal. The pedagogical perspective being transacted in these training programmes enables teachers to handle multi-grade teaching scenario also.

Number of teachers trained under different NISHTHA programmes conducted by NCERT in the last three years, state-wise are available in Annexure at https://www.education.gov.in/parl\_ques.

(h) & (i): The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) conducts training programmes for Key Resource Persons (KRPs), identified by States/UTs and also by organizations as Kendriya  Vidyalaya  Sangathan  (KVS)/  Navodaya  Vidyalaya  Sangathan  (NVS)/  Eklavya  Model Residential  School  (EMRS),  etc.  from  across  the  country  on  various  themes  related  with  school education in line with NEP 2020 and National Curriculum Frameworks. These KRPs in turn organize training programmes for all teachers including those working in rural areas across the country.

*****

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN PART (d) TO (g) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1642 FOR 10TH MARCH,  2025  ASKED  BY  HON'BLE  MEMBER  OF  PARLIAMENT SHRI  MOHITE  PATIL  DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH , SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE , SMT. SUPRIYA SULE , DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE & SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL REGARDING "SHORTAGE OF QUALIFIED TEACHERS IN RURAL SCHOOLS UNDER SSA'.

## Number of teachers trained under different NISHTHA programmes conducted by NCERT in the last three years, state-wise

| State/ UT                   | No. of Certificates Issued   | No. of Certificates Issued   | No. of Certificates Issued   | No. of Certificates Issued   |
|-----------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|------------------------------|
|                             | NISHTHA Elementary           | NISHTHA Secondary            | NISHTHA FLN                  | NISHTHA ECCE                 |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 3979                         | 2115                         | 1715                         | 371                          |
| Andhra Pradesh              | 92843                        | 28678                        | 33495                        | 2149                         |
| Arunachal Pradesh           | 5738                         | 965                          | 1866                         | 158                          |
| Assam                       | 2228                         | 44995                        | 19350                        | 548                          |
| Bihar                       | 288917                       | 41264                        | 216399                       | 1313                         |
| Chandigarh                  | 4019                         | 2397                         | 1894                         | 200                          |
| Chhattisgarh                | 111936                       | 30645                        | 38036                        | 3092                         |
| DDN&DD                      | 1859                         | 280                          | 1263                         | 534                          |
| Delhi                       | 24156                        | 13370                        | 8260                         | 2411                         |
| Goa                         | 2890                         | 7229                         | 4815                         | 1382                         |
| Gujarat                     | 108135                       | 62099                        | 63188                        | 2285                         |
| Haryana                     | 63239                        | 18093                        | 20584                        | 1131                         |
| Himachal Pradesh            | 12020                        | 19580                        | 5221                         | 358                          |
| Jammu and Kashmir           | 92646                        | 24612                        | 47970                        | 29698                        |
| Jharkhand                   | 88524                        | 12995                        | 42583                        | 947                          |
| Karnataka                   | 145801                       | 68549                        | 105720                       | 17229                        |

| Kerala         | N.I.    |        |     481 |    518 |
|----------------|---------|--------|---------|--------|
| Ladakh         | 4514    | 1381   |    1602 |   1061 |
| Lakshadweep    | N.I.    | 350    |     327 |      0 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 261997  | 45541  |  121721 |   3709 |
| Maharashtra    | 23857   | 109583 |   65628 |   2554 |
| Manipur        | 11053   | 3658   |    7344 |    202 |
| Meghalaya      | 20475   | 3358   |    1405 |    325 |
| Mizoram        | 2607    | 2276   |    1539 |     69 |
| Nagaland       | 1327    | 3042   |    4087 |   2397 |
| Odisha         | 174197  | 16331  |   67982 |   7084 |
| Puducherry     | 3611    | 2070   |    1582 |     21 |
| Punjab         | 622     | 3056   |   45590 |   1902 |
| Rajasthan      | 173265  | 113881 |  135811 |  43062 |
| Sikkim         | N.I.    | 4345   |    3785 |    231 |
| Tamilnadu      | N.I.    |        |     857 |    958 |
| Telangana      | N.I.    | 53411  |   41338 |    554 |
| Tripura        | 11492   | 202    |   15086 |     90 |
| Uttar Pradesh  | 525928  | D.N.I. |  201275 |  25266 |
| Uttarakhand    | 689     | 23927  |   28178 |   1124 |
| West Bengal    | N.I.    |        |     571 |    553 |
| Total          | 2264564 | 764278 | 1358548 | 155486 |

Source: NCERT

N.I - Not implemented

D.N.I - Discontinued and not yet implemented