Enrolment in HP elementary govt schools down by 50 per cent

Enrolment in 12,404 elementary government schools in Himachal Pradesh has fallen by 50 per cent from 9.71 lakh to 4.29 lakh over the last two decades, Education Minister Rohit Thakur said, while replying to a query by Rakesh Kalia, Pawan Kajal, and Randhir Sharma during the Question Hour in the Vidhan Sabha on Saturday.

Thakur said surplus staff in educational institutions will be shifted to high-enrolment schools in hard and difficult areas where there is a huge teacher vacancy.

“In 2003-04, there were 12,404 schools having an enrolment of 9.71 lakh. In 2023-24, while the number of schools remains the same, the enrolment has fallen by 50 per cent to 4,29,070," asserted Thakur, highlighting the need for rationalisation.

The Minister also said that the pupil-teacher ratio in Himachal Pradesh, which was 1:22, has improved to 1:11 in 2023-24, which must be the highest in the country. He added that in tribal areas the PTR figure is 1:3. “A total of 3,395 posts of TGT teachers and 546 headmasters, besides 1,500 other posts of teachers, are lying vacant. We have sent a requisition for filling of 937 posts of TGT and 1,762 posts of JBT to the State Public Service Commission,” he said.

In the last two years, appointments of teachers have been made batch-wise but even now many posts in far-flung areas, like Chamba, are lying vacant. Thakur assured that recruitments were being made and efforts are on to fill vacancies in schools and also order promotions of principals.