2.40 lakh Student’s Decrease and 2912 Teacher’s Increase In Maharashtra
Primary Education has received a body blow with the ratio between children in schools and required numbers of teachers getting skewed. RTI activist Anil Galgali has unearthed this ‘unplanned adjustment of teachers and decrease in the number of children getting admitted into schools’ which has led to this disturbance in the ratio. In the last 5 years, in Maharashtra 36 districts as many as 2.40 lakh children have decreased and onlu 2912 Teachers have been increased over the last 3 years.
The RTI queries had been put to the Maharashtra Primary Eduation Council and asked for U-DAIS report. As per the report, in the last 5 years, between Standard 1 to 8, as many as 2,40,031 children had decreased from within schools. However the teacher-student ratio remains the same.
The figures indicate that in the year 2012-13, out of the total number of 1,62,26,543 children studying in state schools, 86,27,243 were boys and 75,99,300 were girls. In the year 2013-14, out of 1,61,58,791 children in all, 85,94,742 were boys and 75,64,049 were girls. In the next year 2014-2015 out of the 1,61,72,420 children studying in schools, 85,96,022 were boys and 75,76,398 were girl children. Then in the next year, 2015-2016 there are a total of 1,60,44,013 students out of which 85,24,669 were boys and 75,19,344 are girls. In the last year 2016-2017 there has the figure is down to 1,59,85,712 children in all out of which 84,95,745 were boys and 74,89,967 were girls.
In sharp contrast however, while the number of children studying in schools is down over the past four years, the number of teachers both in both government and private schools, the number has not come down drastically.
Here are the figures for teachers. A total of 2,68,915 Teachers worked in government schools and 1,45,837 in private School with the total number of tteachers for thye year 2013-2014 being at 4,14,752. In the next year, 2,58,406 teachers worked in government schools and 1,47,449 teachers in private schools when the total teachers for the year 2014-2015 was 4,05,855. In the next year, that is 2015-2016, as many as 2,54,785 teachers worked in government schools and 1,51,507 worked in private schools when the total number of teachers in the state were 4,06,292 teachers. In the past year, 2016-2017 of the total of 4,08,767 teachers, there were 2,53,513 teachers working in government schools and 1,55,254 in private schools.