Assam Schools Struggle with Severe Staffing Shortages

Guwahati: Twenty-two primary schools in Assam's Binnakandi constituency are running with just one teacher. School Education Minister Ranoj Pegu confirmed the figure during a State Assembly session on July 9. The revelation came after MLA Badruddin Ajmal asked for an update on local school staffing.

Statewide data paints a larger picture of the regional education system. Assam maintains 39,531 primary schools, including 33,232 Lower Primary and 6,299 Upper Primary institutions. Hojai district alone hosts 891 of these facilities. Binnakandi itself accounts for 322 schools, split between 276 Lower Primary and 46 Upper Primary sites.

Pegu explained that a school typically gets classified as a single-teacher operation when one sanctioned post stays vacant. Local authorities try to fill the gap by sending in Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators or temporary staff. "In exceptional cases where a school is physically functioning with only one teacher, district authorities avoid assigning that teacher election or other urgent public duties, as far as practicable, to ensure classroom teaching is not disrupted," Pegu said.

The state follows a specific deployment policy. Lower Primary schools aim for a ratio of 30 students to one teacher. Staff assignments rely on subject needs and enrollment numbers. Teachers at this level often handle multi-grade classrooms spanning from class one to five.