(a) whether there are more than 1 lakh Government primary and secondary schools in the
country having only one teacher and if so, the details of such schools, State-wise;
(b) the scheme being formulated by the Government to supplement the State’s efforts
particularly in relation to such schools; and
(c) whether any specific scheme is likely to be implemented to ensure the student-teacher ratio in
such schools adequately and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(DR. SATYA PAL SINGH)
(a): As per Unified District Information System of Education (UDISE), 2016-17 (Provisional),
there are 92275 single-teacher Government schools at both elementary level and secondary level.
State/UT-wise details of such schools are at Annexure.
(b) & (c): The RTE Act, 2009 in its Schedule lays down Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) for both
primary and upper primary schools. At primary level, the PTR norm is 30:1 and at the upper
primary level it is 35:1. As per the Unified District Information System For Education (UDISE)
2015-16, the PTR at national level for primary schools is 23:1, for upper primary schools is 17:1
and for Secondary level is 27:1. However, the recruitment, service conditions and redeployment of
teachers are primarily in the domain of respective State Governments and Union Territories (UT)
Administrations. The Central Government through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra
Shiksha provides assistance to State Governments/UTs for additional teachers to maintain
appropriate Pupil Teacher Ratio as per the requirements of the States/UTs. The Central
Government has been consistently pursuing the matter of expeditious recruitment and
redeployment of teachers with the States and UTs at various fora. Advisories on this issue have
also been issued to States and UTs from time to time. The steps taken by the Central Government
to improve teachers’ performance include, inter alia, regular in-service teachers’ training, induction
training for newly recruited teachers, academic support for teachers and monitoring teachers’
attendance through School Management Committees/School Management Development
Committees/Block Resource Centres/Clusters Resource Centres. States and UTs are also
encouraged to use digital technology like installation of Bio-metric attendance system in schools.
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