At the start of the new academic year, an educational imbalance has come to light in Sagar, Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh. About 45 schools in the district lack even a single teacher, a school in Jinda village, situated approximately 4 km from Sagar town, employs eight teachers for just nine students.
The Jinda village has two schools which despite recommendations for closure five years ago due to low student numbers, continue to operate. The primary school here has three teachers for six students, and the nearby secondary school has five teachers for merely three students.
The existing regulations from the Education Inspectorate mandate the closure of schools with fewer than 20 students, directing that these students be integrated into nearby schools. However, contrary to consolidating resources, four new teaching positions were recently added. The financial implication of this staffing is substantial, with annual salaries amounting to between Rs 60-70 lakh. Moreover, local preference for private schooling has led to no new enrollments in the past two years.
Across the Sagar district, the allocation of teaching staff shows further inconsistencies as 13 teachers cater to merely 10 students, while many schools with no teachers rely solely on 2,870 guest teachers brought in last year. Despite these numbers, the district still has 1,446 supernumerary teachers assigned unnecessarily.
In response to these revelations, Sagar District Education Officer Arvind Jain acknowledged the issue and assured that immediate corrective measures are underway. Schools falling below enrollment thresholds will be closed, and resources, including students and staff, will be reallocated to optimise educational delivery.
In Telangana, angry over the shortage of teachers, students and parents of Zilla Parishad High School in Shalipeta village of Chinna Shankarampet Mandal took to the streets on Friday.
The students staged a rasta roko, blocking traffic on the busy Ramaaympet road for a few hours. The students said that the number of students in the high school has come down to 144 this year, while it was more than 300 a few years ago, due to lack of teachers.
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