Massive Teacher Shortages in Jharkhand, High Court Cracks the Whip

PRESS NOTE

Ranchi, 8 April 2025: Taking a serious view of Jharkhand’s massive school-teacher shortages, the High Court today directed the Chairman of the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) to tell the Court how soon the process of appointing an initial batch of 26,000 school teachers would be “initiated and completed”.

The hearing was being held in response to a writ petition (PIL) filed last year, drawing attention to Jharkhand’s massive teacher shortages. According to official data from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE), Jharkhand has the worst teacher shortages among all major states. For instance, more than 30% of all government primary schools have a single teacher.

Under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (also known as “Right to Education Act”), every school should have at least two teachers, and at least one teacher for every 30 pupils. Most primary and upper-primary schools in Jharkhand fall short of these norms. The problem gets worse every year, as no school teachers have been appointed since 2016.

The petition prays for compliance with the norms of the Right to Education Act. High Court lawyer Piyushita Tudu is arguing the case on behalf of the petitioners.

In response to this petition, the Jharkhand Government filed an affidavit in the High Court on 2 April 2025. The affidavit does not deny any of the facts presented in the PIL, now does it deny that Jharkhand stands in flagrant violation of the Right to Education Act. The affidavit merely promises that 26,000 teachers will soon be appointed “in a fair, transparent and time-bound manner”, without committing itself to any time frame.

Hopefully, the time frame will soon be clarified in Court by the JSSC. However, the matter does not end there at all, because compliance with the Right to Education Act requires much more than 26,000 extra school teachers. UDISE data suggest that compliance with the Act would require an additional 60,000 teachers or so at the primary level alone.
The next hearing will be held on 16 April.

For further info, contact Jean Dreze (9471130049) or Piyushita Tudu (9975143146)