India has a "fabulous" teacher-student ratio: HRD ministry official

India has a "fabulous" teacher-student ratio and over 10 lakh teachers` vacancies in elementary and secondary schools -- as per the data given by HRD Minister of State Upendra Kushwaha -- is because of wrong deployment of teachers, a Ministry official said on Monday. On the contrary, the Human Resource Development Ministry official said, a survey done by the government found four lakh "surplus teachers" across states. 

"The country has a teacher-student ratio of 1:24, which is fabulous. The large number of vacancies is a result of teachers getting concentrated in cities and not getting deployed in the remote areas. We are still in the process of reconciling the two contradicting data," the official said on the condition of anonymity.  The Ministry has asked the states to do a "demand-supply analysis" every year and to install a tracking software to tackle absenteeism among teachers. 

It is yet to be analysed, the official said, as to how many of these surplus teachers are contractual employees.  Kushwaha last week informed Parliament that over 10 lakh posts of teachers at elementary and secondary levels were lying vacant across the country, with Jammu and Kashmir topping the chart at secondary and Uttar Pradesh at elementary levels. 

The official also spoke about introducing a four-year integrated B.Ed programme, replacing the present two-year one, for all-round teacher training, including training in debates, elocution, essay and short-story writing.