Nearly 1.2 lakh schools in India just have one teacher: Report

• 12,099 teaching posts and 1,312 non-teaching posts are vacant in Kendriya Vidyalayas
• While in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, 3,271 teaching posts are vacant
• The number of vacant non-teaching posts in the residential schools is 1,756

The Center has allocated Rs. 1.13 lakh crore for the education sector in the 2023-24 Union budget, increasing estimated expenditure on schools and higher education by nearly 8.3 per cent from 2022-23.

However, the latest answers to questions in Parliament show that there is still considerable room for improvement in India's education standards. “There is a serious shortage of qualified staff, as shown by statistics such as the student-teacher ratio and the number of one-teacher schools. Despite the push to digitize education, less than one in four schools in India have internet access,” a report mentioned.

According to the Education Department, more than 58,000 teaching and non-teaching posts are vacant in Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodaya Schools and Secondary Colleges across the country.

The information was disclosed by Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha. The minister informed that 12,099 teaching posts and 1,312 non-teaching posts are vacant in Kendriya Vidyalayas. There are 3,271 teaching posts vacant in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas. The number of vacant non-teaching posts in boarding schools is 1,756.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman introduced the National Digital Library initiative in this year's Union Budget and the National Digital University program in the last budget to boost educational outcomes and replace learning losses due to the pandemic. According to reports, in 29 states and UTs, less than half of schools have internet access, likely making it difficult to implement such digital programs.