India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Union Human Resource and Development (HRD) Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday said there is a there is a shortage of over twelve lakh teachers in the country and urged the States to give more incentives to the teaching community and fill the vacant posts as soon as possible. "Under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan an additional over one lakh 37 thousand teacher posts have been sanctioned," said Sibal replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha today. The HRD Minister underlined the need for opening more BEd and MEd colleges and asked the State Governments for redeployment of teachers in schools so that the prescribed pupil teacher ratio will be maintained. Sibal further said States are not sending adequate number of eligible students for the monthly scholarship of Rs 500. "For 2008-09, as many as 54,564 scholarships were sanctioned to the selected students of class IX in 33 states and UTs. For 2009-10, 24,521 scholarships have been sanctioned to students in 27 states/UTs," he added. The Government has sanctioned 24,521 National Means-cum-Merit scholarships in 2009-10, down from 54,564 in the previous fiscal.

Shortage of over twelve lakh teachers in the country: Sibal