Less Than Half of Northeast Teachers Qualified

By Arijit Sen

Children in Northeast are at the lowest rung of the education ladder.

Guwahati, Feb 20 : Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal is going full steam ahead with new education policies.

However, a report by Sibal's ministry says that India's Northeast has the highest number of unqualified school teachers in the country.

Going by an all India Educational Survey conducted by Union HRD Ministry children in Northeast are at the lowest rung of the education ladder.

Out of 3 lakh teachers in the Northeast only 45 per cent are qualified to teach compared to an all India average where 87 per cent teachers are qualified to teach

In a school in Assam with about 300 students and only four teachers, Ilurani Das has to run from one classroom to another, to teach at the same time.

Her colleague Jayanta Das is the only trained teacher among the four. Things become especially bad when even one of them is away on training

"If I go to one class, these students call me for help. If I come to theirs, the others call me," says Ilurani Das.

"There is bribery involved in appointments. I don't know if any policy is followed," says Jayanta Das.

Sibal wants a uniform syllabus and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has directed state education department to include computer science as a compulsory subject.

But with classrooms with no teachers, it will require more than computers and a syllabus, for the prayers to be heard.