Ensuring Equitable Education in India: The Need for Strategic Teacher Deployment
Ensuring Equitable Education in India: The Need for Strategic Teacher Deployment
Published on :- May 6th, 2025
The Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) aims to ensure inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all. In line with this vision, the Government of India introduced the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 as a major reform to modernise and transform its education system, aligning it with the demands of the 21st century and the broader Sustainable Development Goals. NEP 2020 emphasises achieving “universal school participation for all” by adopting key components like universal access, flexible and learner-centric curricula, and robust teacher training, which directly support the objectives of SDG4. Both SDG4 and NEP 2020 share a unified commitment to inclusivity, equity, quality education, and lifelong learning opportunities, aiming to reduce educational disparities and build a more resilient and future-ready education system.
This Data Dialogue explores the state of schools, teachers, and student participation in school education across India.
India’s school education system ranks among the largest in the world, comprising nearly 14.72 lakh schools, over 98 lakh teachers, and approximately 24.8 crore students, as of 2023-24.
Over the past seven years, approximately 4% (~63K) of schools in the country—primarily government or government-aided schools—have been closed. This decline coincides with a steady increase in the share of private schools from 33% to 37%. During the same period, overall school enrolment dropped by 5%, while enrolments in private schools rose by 7%. In contrast, government-aided schools saw a 13% decline, and government schools witnessed an 8% decrease in enrolments.
The NEP divides school education into four distinct stages: foundational (up to Grade 2), preparatory (Grades 3-5), middle (Grades 6-8), and secondary (Grades 9 and above). While student enrolment is fairly evenly distributed across these levels, teacher deployment shows significant imbalances. It's important to note that teachers are not confined to a single level. The largest share of teachers (~40%) work across both the foundational and preparatory stages, while another 12% teach students spanning from the foundational to the middle level.
Around 50 lakh teachers, which is half (~50%) of the overall teachers (~98 lakhs), are actually teaching in the lower grades, viz., foundational and preparatory levels, which cater to about a quarter of the student enrolled population each. In contrast, the middle and secondary levels depend on a smaller share of the teacher population. 35 lakh teachers teach at the middle level and 30 lakh teachers teach at the secondary level, despite having an equal share of student enrolments. This suggests a teacher shortfall at the senior classes and where teachers are likely to experience heavier workloads. The growing gap in teacher availability as students move to higher grades potentially affects the quality of subject-specific instruction.
The Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) is a key metric used to assess teacher workload. According to the NEP, a PTR of 30:1 should be maintained in every school. At the national level, India has made notable progress, achieving an average PTR of 25:1. However, Jharkhand, Bihar, and West Bengal continue to exceed the recommended threshold, with more than 30 students per teacher at the state level.
When examining PTRs by educational levels, the ratios are generally lower than 30:1, largely due to teachers being shared across multiple levels. The secondary level records the highest PTR, with Jharkhand, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh surpassing the 30:1 benchmark. In contrast, PTR at the foundational level remains below 20:1 across all states.
Although the national PTR stands at 25 and remains below 30 across most states and school categories, aligning with acceptable standards, PTR at a school level is not actually adequate for most schools and most students.
~30% of the students are still being served in schools with overcrowded classrooms, where PTRs exceed 40:1. Moreover, only 13% of schools are serving these students, placing a disproportionate burden on just 13% of the teaching workforce. Overall, half of the students (49.5%) are still in schools which have more than the recommended PTR of 30.
There are approximately 10 lakh vacancies for teachers as of 2024 (PRABANDH). Challenges such as contractual employment, lower salaries, delays in recruitment, insufficient funding in government schools for teacher salaries, job insecurity, and the growing rise of private coaching further complicate the situation.
Compounding this lack of adequate teachers for the student population is the load of non-teaching duties that teachers are also responsible for. Such non-teaching duties are especially burdensome in smaller schools with fewer teachers. At a state level, the average number of teachers per school remains low, with 23 states having 5–10 teachers per school and 18 states having 100-200 enrolments per school.
Only a few states like Chandigarh (45 teachers per school) and Delhi (29 teachers per school) exhibit the highest teacher density, reflecting optimal utilisation of school infrastructure. In contrast, states like Meghalaya (4), Chhattisgarh (5), and Jharkhand (5) report notably low numbers of teachers per school.
Overall, 21 states in India have fewer than 7 teachers per school on average. Despite low teacher numbers, many states also handle higher enrolments. Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Bihar have 200-300 enrolments per school, yet they have less than 10 teachers per school.
Additionally, there is a prevalence of single-teacher schools in India as well; about 8% (~1.11 lakh) of the schools in India are single-teacher schools which cater to about 40 lakh students.
In Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Jharkhand, 20% of schools are staffed by a single teacher, serving approximately 9% of the students and accounting for 10% of total enrolments. While many of these schools are likely to be situated in remote or sparsely populated areas with low student density, this staffing pattern may adversely affect the quality of education at a regional level.
States like Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh grapple with the problem more, as both the prevalence of single-teacher schools is 19% and 11% respectively, and enrolment share is about 10%.
While NEP 2020 calls for minimising teachers’ involvement in non-teaching duties, challenges like the prevalence of single-teacher schools and teacher shortages at the middle and secondary levels hinder effective implementation. Despite meeting national PTR targets, disparities persist at the school level.
To achieve these goals, India must prioritise equitable teacher deployment, infrastructure optimisation, and targeted recruitment—especially in underserved regions–to turne the vision of SDG 4 and NEP 2020, where every child in India has access to quality, inclusive education, into a reality.
For more assets on SDG 4, click here on India Data Insights.