Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The state education department faces a critical challenge as it grapples with a surplus of teachers exceeding 36,000 in various government schools in the districts. A total of 1134 teachers in Bhopal and 1399 are surplus in Indore, as per data available on school education department portal.
According to Right to Education, the ratio of students to teachers should be 35:1, that is, for 35 students, one teacher should be there, but in 13 districts alone, the surplus exceeds 1,000 teachers each, highlighting a significant imbalance in resource allocation.
Leading the list is Satna district, where out of 14,508 sanctioned teacher positions across 2,877 schools, 1513 teachers are deemed surplus. Following closely is Sagar, with 1,446 surplus teachers across 2655 schools, and Rewa, with 1415 surplus teachers across 2983 schools. Balaghat and Indore also report high numbers of surplus teachers; in Balaghat, the number of surplus teachers is 1477, and in Indore, it is 1399.
The primary cause attributed by the educationist to this surplus is the reluctance of teachers to transfer from favorable conditions, particularly prevalent in urban areas compared to rural regions.
Sunita Saxena, former principal of Government Subhash School, said that the main reason for the surplus of teachers, particularly in urban areas, is the preference among teachers for these locations. Urban areas are considered more suitable due to factors such as better educational opportunities for their children, access to modern teaching techniques, and overall improved living conditions. In contrast, teachers are generally reluctant to transfer to rural areas unless they have strong familial ties or other personal reasons rooted in those regions, Saxena added.
1,134 teachers surplus in Bhopal
Box: In Bhopal, across 865 schools, there are 6,046 sanctioned teacher positions, with 1,134 teachers currently deemed surplus. District Education Officer Anjani Kumar Tripathi told the Free Press that efforts are underway to address this imbalance. He said, 'We will work according to officials directives. Additionally, the surplus of teachers is primarily concentrated in urban areas, whereas rural areas have only the necessary number of teachers required.'
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District Surplus teachers
Satna 1,513
Balaghat 1,477
Sagar 1,446
Rewa 1,415
Indore 1,399
Bhopal 1,134
