Guwahati, July 11: More than 60,000 teaching posts are lying vacant in Assam’s schools, with nearly 8,000 institutions operating below the prescribed student-teacher ratio, exposing the scale of the staffing crisis in the state’s education sector.
Data tabled in the Assam Assembly on Friday showed that 60,032 teaching posts remain unfilled, while 7,948 schools are functioning without the mandated student-teacher ratio, raising concerns over the quality of classroom teaching.
The data also revealed a sharp decline in enrolment, with 32,321 schools reporting fewer than 30 students each.
Education Minister Ranoj Pegu informed the House that around 25,000 educational institutions have applied for provincialisation after the government opened an online application portal.
The applications include 6,163 lower primary schools, 10,101 upper primary schools, 5,733 high schools and 1,222 higher secondary schools, reflecting the growing demand for government support.
On digital infrastructure, Pegu said 10,033 of the state’s 10,965 government schools now have at least one digital learning facility, including Information and Communication Technology (ICT) laboratories, smart classrooms or tele-education facilities.
He said the remaining schools are yet to be covered, but 328 more schools will receive ICT laboratories during the current financial year, reducing the number of schools without digital infrastructure to 608.
The figures point to a mixed picture for Assam’s school education system, with the government making steady progress in digital learning while grappling with acute teacher shortages and declining enrolment in thousands of schools.
Also read: RPP set to merge with NPF, marking third major political merger in 18 months
Also Watch
Find latest news from every corner of Northeast India at hubnetwork.in, your online source for breaking news, video coverage.
Also, Follow us on
Twitter-twitter.com/nemediahub
Youtube channel- www.youtube.com/@NortheastMediaHub2020
Instagram- www.instagram.com/ne_media_hub
Download our app from playstore – Northeast Media Hub
