35% schools in India enrol less than 50 students, have just one or two teachers: PRS analysis
New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI): At least 35 per cent of schools across India enrol fifty or fewer students and have just one or two teachers, according to an analysis by think-tank PRS Legislative Research.
As per NITI Aayog, 36 per cent of government schools in India had fewer than 50 students and nearly 10 per cent had fewer than 20.
"These schools had just one or two teachers. Smaller schools, which usually have few teachers, present several issues. According to the NEP (2020), this leads to teachers teaching multiple grades and subjects, including those subjects they may not be adequately qualified in," said the analysis report released on Tuesday.
"Moreover, teachers spend a large portion of their time attending to administrative tasks, which affect teaching hours. The NEP adds that smaller and isolated schools are difficult to manage. They also lack infrastructure such as labs and libraries," it added.
As of 2022-23, 16 per cent of teaching posts for grades 1-8 were vacant. Vacancies were significantly higher in--Jharkhand (40 per cent), Bihar (32 per cent), Mizoram (30 per cent) and Tripura (26 per cent).
The Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports (2023) highlighted the need to expedite teacher recruitment by states and recommended states to form an Autonomous Teacher Recruitment Board to ensure transparency in recruitment.
"As of 2023-24, around 12 per cent of teachers from primary to higher secondary levels lacked professional teaching qualification. According to the Ministry of Education (2023-24), 48 per cent of teachers at the pre-primary level were unqualified," the report said.
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Abu Salem will flee if granted parole: Maharashtra govt tells HC
Mumbai (PTI): Gangster Abu Salem will abscond if granted parole and this could cause serious issues between India and Portugal, the country from where he was extradited, the Maharashtra government told the Bombay High Court on Tuesday.
The government, in an affidavit filed before the court, opposed Salem's petition seeking 14 days of parole, citing his elder brother's death, and said that at the most, he can be granted two days' emergency parole.
When the plea came up for hearing before a bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Shyam Chandak, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said it was the prosecuting agency and hence, it should be impleaded as a respondent in the petition.
If Salem is granted bail, then it would lead to law and order problems, the CBI said.
The bench said it would hear the plea on January 28.
The affidavit, filed by Inspector General of Prisons Suhas Warke, said Salem was an international gangster who had been indulging in criminal activities for decades.
Salem was extradited from Portugal on an extradition treaty, along with other conditions agreed upon by both countries, it added.
"If the petitioner (Salem) is granted parole, then he will abscond again, as even in 1993 he fled the country," the affidavit pointed out.
It further said the Government of India is under an obligation to stick to the conditions and assurances given by it to the Government of Portugal at the time of Salem's extradition.
"If the petitioner absconds now, then there will be serious issues between the two countries (India and Portugal) as well as a threat to society," the affidavit said.
In Portugal, Salem had been convicted of travelling on a fake passport. He was arrested in Lisbon, Portugal, and extradited to India in November 2005.
As per the affidavit, after Salem sought parole from the jail authorities, a report was sought from the Uttar Pradesh police, where he intends to travel.
The UP police submitted an adverse report and said the place Saraymir in Azamgarh, where Salem wants to go, was a communally sensitive area. Hence, Salem's request for 14 days' parole was rejected, the affidavit said.
Salem can be granted two days' parole, and the travel time will be counted towards his sentence, it said.
In 1993, Salem fled India to evade arrest, the affidavit claimed.
He has been sentenced to life imprisonment in three cases, including the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, and sentenced to 25 years in jail in several other cases.
Salem, in his plea filed last month, sought parole as his elder brother, Abu Hakim Ansari, passed away in November 2025. He had said his plea got delayed due to the court's Christmas vacation.
According to Salem's plea, he had applied for an emergency 14-day parole from the jail authorities to attend the last rites and related rituals of his late brother on November 15 itself.
However, his plea was rejected by the jail authorities through an order on November 20, 2025.
Salem further pointed out that since his arrest in November 2005, he has been in jail and was only granted parole leaves of a few days after the death of his mother and also after the demise of his stepmother.
