When a group of surveyors visited government-run single-teacher primary schools in Manika block under Latehar district, Jharkhand, between January and March 2025, they observed a decimation of teaching-learning activities.
The survey, carried out in 40 single-teacher schools by the NREGA Sahayata Kendra, Manika, aimed to see if the children, mostly from deprived sections like the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs), are getting education as guaranteed under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
The survey report released on Friday said that in most of the schools surveyed, there was no teaching activity when the survey team arrived.
“Children were either studying on their own or just milling around. Even with the best of intentions, it is very difficult for single teachers to teach when they face large numbers of children (59 on average, in these 40 schools) from multiple classes on their own,” the report said.
According to the report, over 8,000 government primary schools in Jharkhand, roughly one-third of all government schools in the state, have only one teacher. This blatantly breaches the RTE law, which mandates one teacher per class. The report also stated that no teachers have been appointed in Jharkhand since 2016.
About 84 per cent of pupils in these schools belong to the SC or the ST. Most teachers were contract staff. Only a third of enrolled pupils were present on the day of the survey. Teachers are often distracted by record-keeping and other non-teaching duties, including generating APAAR numbers for children. In 87.5 per cent of the schools, there was no active teaching during the survey. Only 17.5 per cent of the schools had a functioning toilet. Midday meals were of poor quality because eggs were not served as prescribed.
“The bottom line is that the children are deprived of their fundamental right to elementary education,” the report said.
Jharkhand High Court recently directed the state government to appoint teachers without delay. The state government promised to appoint 26,000 teachers by September 2025. There were 95,897 vacant posts of teachers in government schools in Jharkhand in 2020-21.
Jharkhand is not the only state to face such problems. According to a written reply
in the Rajya Sabha on March 26, 2025, minister of state for education Jayant Chaudhary said more than one lakh schools, including 8,294 in Jharkhand, were functioning with just one teacher.