Executive Summary:
The Ministry of Education addressed concerns regarding teacher-student ratio, equitable distribution of teachers, digital learning integration, and teacher workload. Data from UDISE reports (2022-23 and 2023-24) was utilized to assess the pupil-teacher ratio. The Ministry supports states/UTs through Samagra Shiksha to maintain appropriate PTR and PM eVidya was initiated to address teacher shortages using digital learning. NISHTHA program was introduced to address teacher workload and multi grade teaching.
Key Points / Main Content:
* **Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR):**
* UDISE data (2022-23 and 2023-24) shows PTR for Government schools across the country.
* PTR data is provided for Primary, Upper Primary, Secondary and Higher Secondary levels.
* **Teacher Recruitment and Deployment:**
* States/UTs are responsible for teacher recruitment and rational deployment.
* Samagra Shiksha provides financial assistance to States/UTs to maintain appropriate PTR as per RTE Act, 2009 norms.
* States/UTs are advised to deploy teachers through transparent online platforms.
* Progress on filling teacher vacancies is periodically reviewed.
* **Digital Learning Integration (PM eVidya):**
* PM eVidya unifies digital/online/on-air education efforts.
* Key initiatives under PM eVidya: DIKSHA portal & mobile app, SWAYAM portal, 200 PM eVidya DTH channels (Classes I-XII), Radio/Community Radio, CBSE Podcast Shiksha Vani, e-content for CwSN, digital content broadcast by NCERT.
* Financial support for ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms is provided to State/UTs.
* **Teacher Development and Workload:**
* NISHTHA program provides continuous professional development opportunities for teachers.
* NISHTHA training available on DIKSHA portal addresses multi-grade teaching.
* Rationalization of teachers for optimal deployment is recommended as per NEP 2020.
Impact Analysis:
* **States/Union Territories:**
* *Impact:* Responsible for teacher recruitment, deployment, and adherence to PTR norms. Receive financial assistance through Samagra Shiksha. Need to integrate digital learning via PM eVidya.
* *Action Required:* Utilize transparent online platforms for teacher deployment, participate in reviews of vacancy fillings, implement PM eVidya initiatives, and rationalize teacher deployment.
* **Teachers:**
* *Impact:* Subject to deployment strategies and professional development opportunities. Affected by efforts to address workload and multi-grade teaching scenarios.
* *Action Required:* Participate in NISHTHA training programs and adapt to new pedagogical practices.
* **Students:**
* *Impact:* Benefit from improved teacher-student ratios, equitable teacher distribution, and enhanced digital learning resources.
* *Action Required:* Utilize DIKSHA, SWAYAM, and other digital resources for learning.
* **NCERT:**
* *Impact:* Responsible for the NISHTHA program and for broadcasting digital content.
* *Action Required:* Provide NISHTHA training programs and broadcast digital content.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Education: The central government ministry responsible for education in India.
Samagra Shiksha: A centrally sponsored scheme providing financial assistance to States and UTs to maintain appropriate Pupil Teacher Ratio.
Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education RTE Act, 2009: An Act of the Parliament of India enacted in 2009, which seeks to provide free and compulsory education to all children in the age group of six to fourteen years as a Fundamental Right.
PM e Vidya: A comprehensive initiative that unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multimode access to education.
DIKSHA Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing: A portal and mobile app serving as a storehouse of eBooks and eContents.
SWAYAM Study Webs of Activelearning for Young Aspiring Minds: A portal for self-paced lifelong learning.
NISHTHA National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement: A program introduced by NCERT for continuous professional development opportunities for teachers.
National Education Policy NEP, 2020: A policy document that provides a comprehensive framework for education from primary to higher education in India.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO:- 1375
ANSWERED ON-28/07/2025
Improvement in Teacher-Student Ratio
1375. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:
SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE:
SMT. SHAMBHAVI:
SHRI RAVINDRA DATTARAM WAIKAR:
Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government has conducted any study to assess improvements in the teacher-student
ratio in different States/UTs and education levels during the last year, and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether targeted recruitment drives have been conducted during the last year to improve the
teacher-student ratio, particularly in rural and underserved areas, and if so, the details thereof;
(c) the measures implemented to ensure equitable distribution of teachers in schools to address
shortage of teachers of specific subjects or in regions in the last year;
(d) the details of the integration of digital and blended learning helped mitigate challenges related to
teacher shortages while maintaining quality education; and
(e) the steps taken by the Government to address the concerns regarding teacher workload and multi-
grade teaching in schools with high student populations?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
(SHRI JAYANT CHAUDARY)
(a): In order to collect real-time data from schools, the Department of School Education and Literacy,
Government of India has developed the Unified District Information System for Education Plus
(UDISE+) from the year 2018-19. The details regarding the improvement in the Pupil-Teacher Ratio
of Government schools across the country in the previous years, as per the UDISE+ 2022-23 and
2023-24 reports, are as under: -
2022-23 2023-24
Upper Higher Upper Higher
Primary Secondary Primary Secondary
Primary Secondary Primary Secondary
25 23 18 26 22 21 15 22
(b) & (c): Education being a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution, an overwhelming
majority of the schools in the country comes under the administrative control of States/UTs. The
recruitment and rational deployment of teachers come under the purview of the respective State
Governments/UT Administrations. The Government through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of
Samagra Shiksha, provides financial assistance to the States and UTs to maintain appropriate Pupil-
Teacher Ratio (PTR) for various levels of schooling, as per norms prescribed in the Right of Children
to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009, as amended from time to time.Samagra Shiksha norms provide for States/UTs to undertake a deployment of teachers through a
transparent online platform to ensure that the RTE stipulations are adhered to and school teachers
spend adequate time serving in rural and underserved areas. The progress regarding filling up of
teacher vacancies through a competitive selection examination conducted by States/UTs on a mission
mode, with due care for consistency and sanctity and after a technology based comprehensive teacher
requirement planning and forecasting exercise, is periodically reviewed through regular meetings
with States/UTs as well as through advisories.
(d): In order to ensure integration of digital and blended learning to help mitigate challenges related
to teacher shortages while maintaining quality education, a comprehensive initiative called PM e-
Vidya has been initiated which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable
multi-mode access to education. The key initiatives under PM e-Vidya are: -
DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) portal and DIKSHA mobile app - a
store house of large number of eBooks and e-Contents;
SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-learning for Young Aspiring Minds) portal for self-paced
life-long learning;
200 PM e-Vidya DTH channels to enable all States/UTs to provide supplementary education
in Indian languages for Classes I to XII;
Extensive use of Radio, Community Radio and CBSE Podcast – Shiksha Vani;
Special e-content for Children with Special Needs (CwSN) developed on Digitally Accessible
Information System (DAISY) and in Indian Sign Language (ISL);
Digital content broadcast by NCERT on DTH and YouTube channels;
Further, financial support for setting up ICT Labs and Smart Classrooms in schools under the centrally
sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha is provided to State/UTs as per scheme norms.
(e): In order to provide continuous professional development opportunities to the teachers, NISHTHA
(National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement) program has been
introduced by the National Council of Education, Research and Training (NCERT). It aligns with the
NEP 2020’s focus on enhancing teacher competency, fostering innovative pedagogical practices, and
integrating technology into education. The NISHTHA training programme is available on the
DIKSHA portal. The pedagogical perspective being transacted in these training programmes enables
teachers to handle multi-grade teaching scenario also. Further, in line with the recommendations of
National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, these efforts are complemented by the rationalization of
teachers to ensure their optimal deployment and effective utilization across schools.
***