The state has taken the lead in implementing RTE Act. A report released by the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) shows only 9.85 per cent posts of sanctioned teachers are vacant in Maharashtra as against 22.7 per cent in the country. Of the over 52 lakh sanctioned posts of teachers in schools across the country,over 11.8 lakh are yet to be filled. In Maharashtra,however,only 33,433 of the 3,39,345 approved posts are vacant. The pupil-teacher ratio in state schools is also much higher at 81.66 per cent than the national average of 59.05. Maharashtra is better at caring for the physically disabled,with 86.14 per cent of schools having ramps as against the overall 61.63 per cent. The worst-performing states/union territories are Andaman and Nicobar Islands (23.33 per cent),Andhra Pradesh (20.80 per cent),Arunachal (4.34 per cent),Chandigarh (42.34 per cent),Chhattisgarh (43.42 per cent),D & N Haveli (22.91 per cent),Jammu & Kashmir (13.24 per cent),Jharkhand (39.60 per cent),Manipur (7.05 per cent),Meghalaya (25.12 per cent),Nagaland (10.77 per cent) and Sikkim (3.66 per cent). The state also has more separate toilets for boys and girls 71.39 per cent against the national average of 64.80 per cent. There are 20 per cent or 8.6 lakh untrained teachers in the country,with West Bengal contributing 1.97 lakh,Bihar 1.86 lakh,UP 1.43 lakh,Jharkhand 77,000,Chhattisgarh 48,000,Odisha 40,000,J&K 31,000,Assam 16,000,Meghalaya 14,000,Tripura 10,000,Arunachal 9,000 and Mizoram 6,000. NCTE has granted approval to Arunachal (8,948 teachers),MP (34,902),Jharkhand (15,967),Bihar (39,210),Chhattisgarh (45,225),Meghalaya (7,822),Manipur (6,583),Nagaland (10,863),Odisha (30,067),West Bengal (1,15,050),Uttarakhand (2,374),UP (1,24,000) and Assam (68,727) to train teachers via distance mode, the report claims. It says most states/union territories have followed the RTE stipulation of 200 working days and 800 instructional hours at primary and 220 days and 1,000 hours at upper primary levels. There are exceptions such as Goa which has 210 working days and 925 instruction hours at the upper primary level, the report says.
