Jharkhand: 93% of single teacher schools are primary schools

Interestingly, single-teacher schools are spread all over the state but Ranchi, Dumka and West Singbhum have the highest number of single-teacher schools
RTE activists highlight these points | (Pic: EdexLive)
RTE activists highlight these points | (Pic: EdexLive)

In a shocking revelation by Right to Education (RTE) activists, as many as 22 per cent of the students enrolled in government schools in Jharkhand are studying in single-teacher schools, which means, every fifth child is devoid of proper education, stated a report in The New Indian Express.

The RTE activists, under the banner of Gyan Vigyan Samiti Jharkhand, further informed that out of the 6,904 single-teacher schools in Jharkhand, 93 per cent are primary schools. According to them, out of the total of 35438 schools in Jharkhand, 20 per cent of them are single-teacher schools. "As per Unified District Information System (UDIS) for Education, Jharkhand tops among 22 states in the country where nearly 22 per cent of the total students enrolled in government schools, have been studying in single-teacher schools," said RTE activist Paran Amitava associated with development economist Jean Dreze.

Interestingly, single-teacher schools are spread all over the state but Ranchi, Dumka and West Singbhum have the highest number of single-teacher schools, she added. "Furthermore, out of these 6,904 (30 per cent) single-teacher schools in Jharkhand, 6388 are primary schools, which means 93 per cent of all primary schools are single-teacher schools," said Paran.

Jharkhand champions single-teacher schools in the country with the highest proportion, 22 per cent, of its school students enrolled in single-teacher schools, she added. As per the members of Gyan Vigyan Samiti working for the Right to Education (RTE), many of the schools in Jharkhand are single-teacher schools since the beginning and only one teacher was appointed there.

Teachers are retiring every year but they are not being hired by the government, they claimed.

Demonstrations held
Earlier on April 13, around 100 parents and students demonstrated against single-teacher schools at Garu in Latehar and demanded teacher postings as per the Right to Education Act. Development economist Jean Dreze was also a part of the protest march. Gram pradhans of various villages, school committee members and parents of children under the banner of Sanyukta Gram Sabha Manch Garu sent a letter to Chief Minister Hemant Soren underlining the education scenario.

"We have urged CM Hemant Soren to right this wrong and hire teachers so that there are no more single-teacher schools in the state. We also urged him to look at the letter written by villagers from Garu who have come out of their homes for their child's right to education," said Vishwanath Singh of Gyan Vigyan Samiti.

They are voicing the opinion of all parents across the state, he added. The letter to CM Hemant Soren states that, "It is impossible to provide quality education in single-teacher schools. The children are left to themselves when the teacher is absent or busy with record-keeping. Even when the teacher is available, how is she supposed to teach children of five different grades on her own? In Garu, single-teacher schools have 48 pupils on average. One of them has 145 pupils!"

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