43,500 teachers short of RTE goal, says report

The state government will require an additional 43,500 primary school teachers to implement the right to education (RTE) Act, 2009, in schools managed/aided by the government and civic bodies, a preliminary report by the state primary education department has revealed.

Under the act, every child between 6-14 years of age will be provided eight years of elementary education in an age-appropriate classroom in his/her neighbourhood.

According to the primary report prepared by the department, in order to accommodate all the children who are currently not receiving an education, primary schools need to have 43,500 teachers with DEd degrees.

In order to recruit these teachers and accommodate the children, the state government will be spending about Rs25,500 crore in next five years.

Last month, the central government also revised the distribution of funds by itself and the state governments, with the state funding 35% of the total cost, while the Centre contributes 65%.