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Assam's Education Minister Reveals Alarming Shortage of Educators
In a concerning revelation, Assam's Education Minister, Ranoj Pegu, addressed the state assembly to disclose that more than 15,000 teaching positions at the school level and an additional 1,300 in colleges and universities remain vacant. This shortage of educators is a pressing issue for Assam's education system.
The Education Minister also pointed out that the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the higher secondary level has been on a decline when compared to the figures at the elementary level for the year 2021-22.
Responding to a query raised by Congress MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed, Minister Pegu provided detailed statistics, stating that a staggering total of 15,752 teaching posts remain unfilled across various schools in Assam. In addition to the teaching posts, there are 2,830 non-teaching positions yet to be filled within these schools.
Further addressing a question by AIUDF’s Rafiqul Islam, Minister Pegu highlighted the specific vacancies within provincialized high schools and higher secondary schools. He stated that 1,686 posts of head teachers, 320 posts of principals, and 499 posts of vice-principals are currently vacant in these institutions.
Continuing the discourse on the teaching vacancy crisis, Minister Pegu, in response to a question by CPI(M) legislator Manoranjan Talukdar, revealed that 860 assistant professor positions are unfilled in various colleges across Assam. Additionally, there are 465 vacant teaching posts within the 12 universities of the state, further exacerbating the shortage of educators.
Minister Pegu, addressing a question from Congress MLA Bharat Chandra Narah, referred to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2021-22 data. According to this data, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in elementary education in Assam stood at 109.9 percent. However, the GER in secondary education for the same period was notably lower, at 74.5 percent. The most concerning figure was the GER in higher secondary education, which was a mere 40.1 percent, signifying a significant drop in enrollment at this level.
The revelations in the assembly shed light on the critical shortage of educators in Assam's education system, posing challenges to the quality of education and the aspirations of students in the state. Addressing this issue and filling these vacancies promptly is essential to ensure the continued development of Assam's education sector.