State of the Education Report for India 2021
Recently, ‘2021 State of the Education Report for India: No Teacher, No Class’ has been published by UNESCO.
The third edition of this report focuses on the topic of teachers, teaching and teacher education.
Key findings: Education Report for India
Status of teachers: Of the 9.7 million teachers, about 50% are employed in the government sector, and about 50% of these are women.
Single-Teacher Schools: Nationally, 7% of schools are single-teacher schools. Some states have 16% (Goa and Telangana) single-teacher schools. Almost all single teacher schools are located in rural areas.
Enrolment Ratio: Gross enrolment ratio (GER) for elementary schools has increased from 81.6 in 2001 to 93.03 in 2018-19 and stands at 102.1 in 2019-2020, overall retention is 74.6 per cent for elementary education and 59.6 per cent for secondary education in 2019-20.
Lack of digital infrastructure: Overall availability of computing devices (desktop or laptop) in schools is 22% and internet penetration in schools is only 19% across India.
In a related development, the Ministry of Education has issued ‘Guidelines on School Safety and Security’. These guidelines have been prepared by an expert committee following the orders of the Supreme Court.
Various categories of negligence have been identified in these guidelines for which the school administration will be held accountable.
Recommendations to address the challenges faced by the teaching profession in India
- The employability of teachers in both government and private schools should be improved.
- In the northeastern states, rural areas and aspirational districts, the number of teachers should be increased and their working conditions should be improved.
- Teachers should be identified as frontline workers.
- There is a need to increase the number of teachers in physical education, music, art, vocational education, and special education related to the early years of childhood.
Source – The Hindu
