Nagaland’s government schools have a pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) of 7:1, significantly better than the All-India average of 24:1, even as 819 government schools in the state have fewer than 25 students, Chief Minister Dr. Neiphiu Rio informed the Nagaland Legislative Assembly on Tuesday.
Rio was responding to a starred question raised by MLA A. Nyamnyei Konyak seeking district-wise details of teacher vacancies across various categories of government schools, including Government Primary Schools (GPS), Government Middle Schools (GMS), Government High Schools (GHS) and Government Higher Secondary Schools (GHSS).
The Chief Minister said there is no single fixed number of teacher vacancies for the state or individual districts, as teacher requirements are assessed at the school level based on student enrolment, prescribed staffing patterns, the pupil-teacher ratio and the actual requirements of individual schools.
According to Rio, the current 7:1 PTR in Nagaland’s government schools is considerably below the national average of 24:1 and the benchmark of less than 30:1 under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
He said the figures indicate that the state does not face an overall shortage of teachers in terms of the pupil-teacher ratio, although individual schools may have varying requirements.
The response also brought out the extent of low enrolment in government schools following the state’s school rationalisation exercise. The number of government schools has been reduced from 1,939 to 1,881.
Of the existing schools, 359 have fewer than 10 students, while 819 have fewer than 25 students.
Rio explained that the Standard Staffing Pattern applies to schools with more than 25 students and that applying the same minimum staffing norms to schools with only two or three students would not be appropriate.
However, concerns were raised in the Assembly over the possible impact of uniform rationalisation on educationally backward, remote and difficult areas.
Responding to these concerns, Rio assured the House that the government would undertake further reassessment and readjustment, particularly in difficult and remote areas, to ensure that the rationalisation process does not adversely affect access to education.
The figures indicate that while Nagaland’s overall teacher-student ratio remains favourable, the distribution of teachers and the viability of hundreds of low-enrolment government schools remain key issues in the state’s ongoing school rationalisation process.
