Only 46% of primary teachers in state have required teaching qualification: Report

Only 46% of primary school teachers in Mumbai have the appropriate qualifications, according to a report by the Centre for Excellence in Teacher Education (CETE). The report also highlights discrepancies in subject qualifications, with a significant number of teachers lacking mathematics qualifications. The report calls for increased government funding to improve teacher quality.

Mumbai: Only 46% of primary school teachers possess the appropriate Diploma in Education, Bachelor of Education, and Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed.) qualifications, data from the State of Teachers, Teaching, and Teacher Education Report (SOTTTER) 23 published by the Centre for Excellence in Teacher Education (CETE) at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences reveals.

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The highest discrepancies were found in teachers teaching mathematics, where 35–41% of teachers did not have mathematics as a subject at the undergraduate level.

SOTTTER 23, titled ‘The Right Teacher for Every Child,’ has put out a comprehensive overview of the education sector in India. Based on data sets such as UDISE+, the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2021–22, and primary data collected from eight states, including Maharashtra, the report delves into key aspects of teacher availability, deployment, and the overall state of the sector.

The report marked variations between states, with the Northeastern and Himalayan states facing challenges in providing basic amenities to teachers and students. While pointing out the shortage of teachers for art, music, and physical education, the report stated that there was an overall low provisioning of art, music, and physical education teachers, particularly in rural schools.

The report also highlighted states with a relatively higher proportion of teachers without professional qualifications in urban areas, including Gujarat (70%), Karnataka (67%), Maharashtra (65%) and Telangana (80%).

The private sector emerged as the major employer of unqualified teachers in most states with Maharashtra at around 87%.

While pointing out discrimination, the report also pointed out that overall, women make up 51% of the workforce. Further, dividing them into 44% of teachers in the government workforce and 63% of them in the private workforce.

Regarding the teacher’s appointment as per the reservation policy, the report highlighted that teachers from Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities are mostly employed in government schools, which is 61%, and they have low representation in private schools, which is 27%.

The report also pointed out that 64% of ST teachers are in government schools, and 17% are in private schools.

Professor Padma Sarangapani, chairperson, CETE and lead author of the report, emphasised that the report calls for increased government funding to strengthen quality.

Siddharth Sharma, CEO of Tata Trusts, highlighted the crucial role of professionally equipped and motivated teachers in realizing India’s commitment to quality education. Tata Trusts supports CETE’s efforts in teacher development programs and research for evidence-building.