‘1.2 mn teachers needed to implement right to education’

NEW DELHI - Save the Children, a child rights NGO, said Tuesday that India faces a shortfall of at least 1.2 million trained teachers for implementing the Right to Education Act which will be notified across the nation Thursday.

“There are many critical challenges that lie ahead which may make the claim of fundamental right to education a hollow one,” said Thomas Chandy, the NGO’s chief executive officer.

According to the NGO, the average students-to-teacher ratio in a classroom at present stands at 50:1, and as the act envisages that this ratio should be 30:1, it implies that at least 12 lakh more trained teachers will be required within six months of notification of the act.

“Without qualified trained teachers, how can we expect children to have the benefit of education that equips them with life skills so essential to take benefit of opportunities?” Chandy asked.

Chandy remarked that with the act, the country would deliver on its promise to make elementary education free and compulsory to all. “This is a significant achievement. Yet, the notification of the act is just the first step,” he said.

He noted that the act had no provisions to bring child labour back to school. “The government must make special provisions to remove the anomaly of millions of children out of school in a country where elementary education is now a fundamental right.”