Number of single-teacher govt primary schools has crossed 1,600: Gujarat Education Minister Kuber Dindor

In his response during the Question Hour on Monday, the education minister stated that the government has been appointing gyan sahayaks and organising inter-district transfer camps to tide over the situation.

Citing the Right to Education Act, 2009, which stipulates one teacher for 30 students at the primary level, Dindor stated that out of these 1,606 schools, there are 20 schools with less than five students.

“The number of schools with fewer students has also increased. As a result, there is an increased number of schools with only one teacher. Recruitment as per student enrolment will be conducted at the earliest,” the minister stated in the House.

“There are nearly 85 government primary schools with 5-10 students and 315 with 11-20 students along with around 419 with 20-30 students,” the House was informed.

Taking a dig at the response, Congress Vav MLA Geniben Thakor urged the state government to ensure that the number of single-teacher schools does not increase to 3,200 in the future.

“There are government primary teachers who commute over 200 km every day… The state government should fill up vacant posts before the commencement of the new academic session,” she added.