2021 State of the Education Report for India: UNESCO

• 07 Oct 2021

Why in News

On the Occasion of the World Teachers’ Day (5^th October), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) launched its 2021 State of the Education Report (SOER) for India: “No Teacher, No Class”.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • The findings are largely based on analysis of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) data (2018-19).
  • It aims to serve as a reference for enhancing the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) and towards the realization of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 (target 4c on teachers).
    
    • Target 4c: By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States.
• Findings of the Report:
  
  • Lack of Teachers:
    
    • There are nearly 1.2 lakh single-teacher schools in the country of which an overwhelming 89% are in rural areas.
    • The report projects that India needs 11.16 lakh additional teachers to meet the current shortfall.
  • Performance of States (Women Teachers):
    
    • Tripura has the least number of women teachers, followed by Assam, Jharkhand and Rajasthan.
    • Chandigarh leads the chart followed by Goa, Delhi, Kerala.
  • Increase in Number of Teachers in Private Sector:
    
    • The proportion of teachers employed in the private sector grew from 21% in 2013-14 to 35% in 2018-19.
      
      • The Right to Education Act stipulates that the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) should be 30:1 in classes 1-5 and 35:1 in higher grades.
  • Lack of Digital Infrastructure:
    
    • The overall availability of computing devices (desktops or laptops) in schools is 22% for all India, with rural areas seeing much lower provisioning (18%) than urban areas (43%).
    • Access to the internet in schools is 19% all over India - only 14% in rural areas compared to 42% in urban areas.
  • Increment in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER):
    
    • For elementary schools, it has increased from 81.6 in 2001 to 93.03 in 2018-19 and stands at 102.1 in 2019-2020.
      
      • GER is the number of students enrolled in a given level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the official school-age population corresponding to the same level of education.
    • Overall retention is 74.6% for elementary education and 59.6% for secondary education in 2019-20.
• Recommendations:
  
  • Increase the number of teachers and improve working conditions in North Eastern states, rural areas and 'aspirational districts'.
  • Increase the number of physical education, music, art, vocational education, early childhood and special education teachers.
  • Value the professional autonomy of teachers.
  • Build teachers' career pathways.
  • Provide teachers with meaningful Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training.
  • Develop teaching governance through consultative processes, based on mutual accountability.

Initiatives Taken

• NIPUN Bharat Mission
• NISHTHA 2.0 (Teachers’ Training Programme)
• New National Education Policy (NEP), 2020
• Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
• PM Poshan Scheme
• Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009
• Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

Source: IE