Central panel seeks answers on over 800 teacher vacancies
Panaji:
The Union education ministry's project approval board (PAB), while carrying out an annual review of the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan implementation in Goa, has pointed to over 800 teacher vacancies waiting to be filled at all levels in the state, besides 83% vacancies within the State Council for Education Research and Training (SCERT).'At the state-sanctioned level, 306 positions at the elementary level, 311 at the secondary level, and 231 at the senior secondary level remain vacant. The state was urged to take necessary steps to fill all vacant positions across levels by Dec 31, 2025,' the PAB noted.It also said that a significant proportion of positions in SCERTs and DIETs (district teacher education institute) are currently filled on deputation or contractual basis — 83.3% posts in SCERT (10 of 12 posts) and 92% in DIETs (23 of 25 posts).'Considering the pivotal role of these institutions in teacher empowerment and educational reforms, it was advised that all such positions should be filled on a regular basis, on priority, by June 30, 2025, to ensure greater institutional accountability and a stronger sense of professional responsibility,' the PAB said.It has also said that the progress of the teacher training institute's upgrade into a Centre's centre of excellence is unusually slow in the state.'Under the DIETs of Excellence scheme approved in PAB 2021-24, DIET, North Goa was sanctioned in the first phase. However, slow progress was observed in the state. The state was urged to closely monitor the implementation and ensure timely completion of activities sanctioned under the scheme,' PAB said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Indian Express
20 hours ago
- New Indian Express
'Disturbing trend': Centre flags low enrolment in Telangana government schools
HYDERABAD: The Union government has raised concerns over the declining enrolment in government schools in Telangana. During a recent Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting of the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education (MoE), noted that despite substantial funding and expenditure, students continue to move away from government schools, a trend it described as disturbing. The Centre urged the state government to conduct a thorough analysis of the underlying causes and take corrective measures to reverse this trend. The Union government pointed out that government schools account for only 38.11% (27.8 lakh) of the total enrolment, compared to 60.75% (44.31 lakh) in private schools. Data from 2018–19 to 2023–24, excluding the Covid-affected year of 2021–22, shows a steady rise in private school enrolments. Telangana has a total of 41,901 schools, of which 30,022 (70%) are government-run and 12,126 (28.26%) are private-run. The PAB minutes further revealed that in 2023–24, the number of schools with zero enrolment increased compared to the previous year.
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Hindustan Times
‘10k unrecognised schools operating in Bihar, Jharkhand'
Over 10,000 unrecognised school are operational in Jharkhand and Bihar, with over 1.6 million students enrolled in those schools, in violation of the Right to Education Act, data from the minutes of a recent Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting of the education ministry has shown. With 5,879 such schools, Jharkhand has the highest number of unrecognised schools in the country with an enrolment of 837,897 students and 46,421 teachers, the data showed, while Bihar has 4,915 such schools with an enrolment of 775,704 students and 42,377 teachers. The observation came during PAB meetings for the approval of budget and plans under Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2025-26 with officials from all states between March and April 2025. During the meeting, the ministry flagged that unrecognised schools violate section 19 of the RTE Act, 2009, which mandates pre-existing schools to meet prescribed norms within three years of the Act's commencement. Unrecognised schools are private, unaided institutions operating without formal government recognition and regulatory frameworks. 'The Act also mandates that if such schools fail to fulfil the norms, the recognition shall be withdrawn, and the school shall cease to function,' the minutes of the meetings uploaded on ministry's website recently said. Further, the ministry has both states to 'take action and issue suitable instructions to the concerned authorities to recognise these unrecognised schools or to take appropriate action as deemed fit at the earliest.' While the ministry used data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE)+ 2023-24 report, these records are not publicly available in the report which was released in January this year. While officials in the education ministry did not respond to HT's request for comment, an official in Jharkhand said that directions for appropriate action have already been issued to the schools. 'These [Unrecognised] schools started functioning before the implementation of RTE Act 2009. The state government has already issued directions for recognition of such schools. We have formed district-level recognition committees for recognition of such schools,' Sachidanand Diyendu Tigga, administrative officer at Jharkhand education project council, said. According to the minutes of the PAB meetings, the ministry has also flagged 'large variation' in reporting of data about out-of-school children (OoSC) by Bihar and Jharkhand on the education ministry's Project Appraisal, Budgeting, Achievements and Data Handling System (PRABANDH) portal and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey. The ministry advised both the states to 'monitor the data uploaded on the portal by responsible officer under the supervision of the State Project Director (SPD).' 'We will look into discrepancies in the number of OoSCs. We are running the campaign 'back to school' to enroll those students who are not going to the schools,' Tigga said. HT reached out to officials from the Bihar Education Project Council, but was yet to receive any response.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Over 10,000 unrecognised schools in Bihar, Jharkhand: Education Ministry
New Delhi: Jharkhand and Bihar together have over 10,000 unrecognised schools enrolling over 1.6 million students and having more than 88,000 teachers, according to the Union education ministry. While Jharkhand has the 'highest' 5,879 unrecognised schools in the country with an enrolment of 8,37,897 students and 46,421 teachers, Bihar has 4,915 such schools with an enrolment of 7,75,704 students and 42,377 teachers. During Project Approval Board (PAB) meetings for the approval of budget and plans under Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2025-26 with the state officials between March and April 2025, the ministry stated that unrecognised schools are violating section 19 of the Right To Education (RTE) Act 2009 which requires pre-existing schools to meet prescribed norms within three years of the Act's commencement. 'The Act also mandates that if such schools fail to fulfil the norms, the recognition shall be withdrawn, and the school shall cease to function,' said the minutes of the meetings uploaded on the ministry's website. The ministry has asked both the states to 'take further course of action and issue suitable instructions to the authorities concerned to recognise these unrecognised schools or to take appropriate action as deemed fit at the earliest.' The ministry has quoted data for unrecognised schools in Bihar and Jharkhand from Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE)+ 2023-24 report. However, the data on unrecognised schools is not publicly available in the said report released in January this year. The education ministry officials did not respond to HT's queries on clarification. 'These [Unrecognised] schools started functioning before the implementation of RTE Act 2009. The state government has already issued directions for recognition of such schools. We have formed district-level recognition committees for recognition of such schools,' Sachidanand Diyendu Tigga, administrative officer at Jharkhand education project council told HT. According to the minutes of the PAB meetings, the ministry has also flagged 'large variation' in reporting of data about out-of-school children (OoSC) by Bihar and Jharkhand on the education ministry's Project Appraisal, Budgeting, Achievements and Data Handling System (PRABANDH) portal and the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) survey. The Centre describes an OoSC as a child aged six to 14 years, who has never been enrolled in an elementary school or has remained absent from school after enrolment without prior intimation for 45 days. OoSC, therefore, include both never enrolled in schools and the dropouts. Data for OoSC is uploaded by states on PRABANDH portal, the online system used to monitor the implementation and progress of Samagra Shiksha, a shared scheme between the Centre and states supporting public schools with a funding ratio of 60:40. According to the NSSO, 'never enrolled' children are those who have never attended any school or formal educational institution. In Jharkhand, the PRABANDH portal recorded 37,409 Out-of-School Children (aged 6 to 19 years) for 2023–24. In contrast, the NSSO survey for 2022–23 reported 1,07,639 'never enrolled' children in the 6 to 14 age group. In Bihar, PRABANDH data for 2023–24 showed 33,285 OoSCs, while the NSSO reported a significantly higher figure of 6,27,763 'never enrolled' children for 2022–23. The ministry advised both the states to 'monitor the data uploaded on the portal by a responsible officer under the supervision of the State Project Director (SPD).' The ministry also directed both the states to initiate a special enrolment drive with full involvement of school management committees to ensure identification and admission of all OoSC. Tigga said, 'We will look into discrepancies in the number of OoSCs. We are running the campaign 'back to school' to enroll those students who are not going to the schools.'
