Over 5.11 lakh teachers as on March 31, 2015 were working in government and government-aided schools at elementary level, who need to acquire minimum qualifications as prescribed by the National Council for Teacher Education, the Lok Sabha was informed today.
Union Minister of State for HRD Upendra Kushwaha said in response to a question on whether the Centre was aware that a large number of untrained teachers were being employed in government schools across the country at primary and upper primary levels.
"The state government and and UTs have reported a total of 5,11,679 teachers as on March 31, 2015, working in government and government-aided schools at elementary level (primary and upper primary) who need to acquire the minimum qualifications, as prescribed by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)," he said.
According to the data shared in his written reply, 2,48,209 untrained teachers are yet to be enrolled while 2,63,470 are undergoing training.
Out of all the states and union territories, West Bengal has a maximum number of untrained teachers -- 2,34,819 followed by Bihar with 98,351 for that period.
"As states have reported that in-service untrained teachers still exist at elementary level, the Central government has initiated the process of amending the RTE Act 2009 to extend the period available for such training by March 31, 2019," Oshawa said.
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