Tripura CM highlights teacher shortage and dropout rate in tribal majority area schools

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha informed the Assembly on Tuesday, April 1 that the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) is grappling with a significant shortage of teachers, with 302 primary schools being run by a single teacher each.

The TTAADC, which administers 1,387 primary schools across the Sixth Schedule areas of the state, caters to 30,273 students with a workforce of 3,504 teachers. However, the disproportionate distribution of teachers has led to a critical situation in many institutions, the CM stated while responding to a calling attention motion by Tipra Motha Party MLA Pathan Lal Jamatia.

To mitigate the shortage, the state government has deputed 709 teachers to TTAADC-run schools. However, Saha acknowledged that despite maintaining a reasonable student-teacher ratio, the presence of single-teacher schools underscores the need for a more balanced distribution of teaching staff.

CM Saha also addressed the issue of declining student enrollment in TTAADC-run schools. He attributed the trend to multiple factors, including a low birth rate among tribal communities and the increasing preference for English-medium schools.

Highlighting the dropout rate, he noted that in 2017-18, the dropout rate stood at 0.90% at the primary level and 27.10% at the secondary level. However, due to government interventions, these figures have improved, dropping to 0.5% and 10.4% respectively in recent years. Factors contributing to student dropouts include child marriage, socio-economic challenges, and teaching-learning difficulties.

Reaffirming the state’s commitment to enhancing education in tribal areas, the CM announced that Rs 1.20 crore has been allocated for school repair works in 2024-25. Additionally, the government is bearing a substantial financial burden of Rs 66.98 crore annually to pay teachers deputed to TTAADC schools.

Saha emphasized that addressing the uneven distribution of teachers and improving learning conditions would be key to strengthening the educational infrastructure within the tribal council areas.