On 5 October each year, World Teacher’s Day is celebrated. This year, the same day, UNESCO launched the State of the Education Report for India. The report was titled, “No teacher, No class.” It aims to study the proportion of teachers and their availability at the primary, middle, and high school levels in India.
Here are the highlights of the reports. However, before that, let us understand few important terms.
World Teacher’s Day
Every year on 5 October, the international day of teachers is celebrated to honour and dignify ‘TEACHERS’ of the society. In 1966, on this day, the UNESCO Recommendation on the Status of teachers was approved. After that, the day is celebrated as a world teacher’s day to mark the moment’s glory.
What is UNESCO?
UNESCO stands for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural
Organisation. It is a UN agency that was founded on 16 November 1945. UNESCO aims to build peace at the international level in Science, Education, and Culture. Its headquarters is located in Paris.
State of the Education Report (SOER) 2021, India
The report was released by UNESCO on 5 October 2021, to read trends in Indian teaching parameters. Highlights of the report are mentioned below.
Aim of the Report
It aims to serve as a reference for the National Education Policy (NEP). It enhances the implementation of NEP and Sustainable Development Goals.
National Education Policy (NEP)
The new National Education Policy was approved by the union cabinet in 2020. Before 2020, education policies were made in 1968 and 1986. The policies made several changes, such as the Higher Education Commission of India, National Research Foundation, Multidisciplinary Education, and Research University PARAKH; it aims to facilitate a holistic and participatory approach in the Indian Education system.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)
The target 4c of SDG is to supply qualified teachers in developing countries by 2030.
Source of Information
The report was mainly based on the following two sources.
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLES)
- It is a report released by the National Statistical Office (NSO). It works to estimate the critical employment and unemployment indicators in both rural and urban areas.
Unified District Information system for Education (UDISE)
- This report was released by the Union Education Minister and is an information management system for school education. It collects the details of schools in India and factors related to them. The system covers around 1.5 million schools, 8.5 million teachers, and 250 million students.
Outcomes of the Report
The outcomes derived from the UNESCO State of the Education Report, SOER, India 2021 are mentioned below:
Additional Teachers Required
Around 11.16 lakh teachers are required in India to meet the shortfall.
Single-teacher Schools
- Nearly 1-2 lakh schools in India are driven by a single teacher.
Flourishment to the Private Sector
- In 2018-19, the percentage of teachers employed in the private sector increased to 35%.
State Performance
- Chandigarh has the maximum number of female teachers.
- Tripura has the least number of female teachers.
GER Data
- GER stands for Gross Enrollment Rate. It is the number of students enrolled at a given education level, despite their age. Moreover, GER in India has increased to 93.03 for elementary school.
Digital Infrastructure
- Only 22% of total schools in India are facilitated with computing devices and the internet.
Suggestions
Based on its outcomes and analysis, the report suggested the following recommendations to the union cabinet.
- To increase the total number of teachers.
- To increase the teachers of particular subjects like music, art PTE, and Indian languages, etc.
- Value Teachers association and take steps to provide them pride and dignity.
- To provide teacher Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training.
A Way Forward
The UNESCO report of SOER, is the reflection of teachers and teaching parameters in Indian society. The Indian government has made many efforts like RTE, NIPUN Bharat mission, teachers training program, Sarva Siksha Abhiyan, Mid-day Meal Scheme, National Education Policy, to mention a few, to ensure better education facilities to its citizens. However, improvement is required in many sectors of education like IT education, Sex education, and other Creative Subjects. The student-teacher ratio also required improvement.
According to NEP, for primary school, it should be 30:1, and 35:1 for high school. It is clear; the Indian land is still running short of teachers. Most of the schools in rural areas do not have eligible teachers. The government needs to launch more teacher training programs. Also, the existing measures are required to be implemented on a strict standard.
In the end, teachers are the torch that lights the path to the success of a country and its pupils. It is vital to have skilled and eligible teachers for the social and economic development of a nation.