1606 schools with only one teacher, this is the condition of teacher shortage in primary schools of Gujarat

There is a huge shortage of teachers in government primary schools of Gujarat. The government itself has admitted that out of more than 32000 primary schools in the state, 1606 schools have only one teacher. State Education Minister Kuber Dindor informed the House about this during the budget session of Gujarat Legislative Assembly.

According to news agency PTI, in response to a question by Congress MLA Tushar Chaudhary during the discussion on Question Hour in the House, Education Minister Dindor said that in the last two years, the number of schools facing shortage of teachers has increased. A major reason for this has been the demand to transfer teachers to the place of their choice.

‘Work will be done to fill the vacant posts soon’

Minister Dindor assured the House that work would be done to fill the vacant posts in all the schools run by the state government as soon as possible. Congress members expressed strong objection to this statement of the minister. Congress MLAs demanded the BJP government to set a deadline for the recruitment of vacant posts. While replying to a question by the Congress MLA, the Minister presented the figures and said that the number of schools running with one teacher has been recorded at 1,606 by December 2023.

‘Government has taken many steps to solve the problems of students’

While assuring the opposition, the Minister also said that many steps are being taken to ensure that students do not have to face problems due to shortage of teachers. These measures mainly include appointment of Gyan Sahayaks or primary teachers on contract basis and organizing teacher transfer camps etc.

Congress claims – the number of such schools has more than doubled in two years

Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar said that such assurances have already been given in the House by the state government. In the last two years, the number of schools running with one teacher has increased rapidly. The government had informed the House in March 2022 that the number of such schools in the state is 700, but the surprising thing is that today within two years their number has more than doubled.

BJP government should tell the plan to fill the vacant posts

Parmar claimed in the House that as per records, more than 19,000 teacher posts are lying vacant in Gujarat. The government should inform the House what kind of plan has been prepared by the government to resolve this issue? Congress MLAs Kirit Patel and Geniben Thakor also expressed their displeasure over this matter in the House and demanded the government to give a deadline for the recruitment of vacant posts.