India's Education Challenge: Over 1 Lakh Single-Teacher Schools Serving 33 Lakh Students Nationwide

Delhi has nine single-teacher schools. (Representational)

New Delhi:

More than 33 lakh students across India are enrolled in over 1 lakh schools that operate with just one teacher. Andhra Pradesh has the highest number of such educational institutions, while Uttar Pradesh leads in student enrollment in these schools, according to official statistics.

The Ministry of Education reports that during the 2024-25 academic year, India had 1,04,125 single-teacher schools serving 33,76,769 students, averaging approximately 34 students per institution.

Under the Right to Education Act of 2009, schools must maintain a pupil-teacher ratio of 30:1 for primary levels (classes I-V) and 35:1 for upper primary levels (classes VI-VIII).

Andhra Pradesh tops the list with the most single-teacher schools, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Lakshadweep. However, regarding student enrollment in such schools, Uttar Pradesh ranks first, followed by Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Madhya Pradesh.

The number of single-teacher schools has decreased by approximately six percent, from 1,18,190 in 2022-23 to 1,10,971 in 2023-24.

A senior official explained, "The government is pursuing a mission to enhance learning outcomes and optimize available resources through school mergers and consolidation, often referred to as 'rationalization of schools.'"

"Single-teacher schools impede the teaching-learning process, so efforts are underway to redeploy teachers from schools with zero enrollment to single-teacher institutions to ensure adequate teacher availability," the official added.

State-wise distribution shows Andhra Pradesh with 12,912 single-teacher schools, Uttar Pradesh with 9,508, Jharkhand with 9,172, Maharashtra with 8,152, Karnataka with 7,349, Lakshadweep and Madhya Pradesh each with 7,217, West Bengal with 6,482, Rajasthan with 6,117, Chhattisgarh with 5,973, and Telangana with 5,001.

Delhi maintains nine single-teacher schools.

The Union Territories of Puducherry, Ladakh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, and Chandigarh have no single-teacher schools. The Andaman and Nicobar Islands have only four such institutions.

In terms of student enrollment in single-teacher schools, Uttar Pradesh leads with 6,24,327 students, followed by Jharkhand with 4,36,480, West Bengal with 2,35,494, Madhya Pradesh with 2,29,095, Karnataka with 2,23,142, Andhra Pradesh with 1,97,113, and Rajasthan with 1,72,071.

Regarding average student enrollment per school, Chandigarh and Delhi have the highest numbers at 1,222 and 808 students respectively. Conversely, Ladakh, Mizoram, Meghalaya, and Himachal Pradesh have significantly lower figures of 59, 70, 73, and 82 students per school, respectively.

The official noted, "High student numbers per school indicate optimal utilization of school infrastructure. Schools with low enrollments are being merged to ensure efficient resource utilization."