Over 8,000 Schools, One Teacher: Alarming Situation of Government Schools in Tribal Areas of Jharkhand

In Bichlidag village of Dundu Panchayat, located about 20 kilometers from Manika in Latehar district, mostly tribal families reside. These families are extremely poor. To educate their children, there is just one government middle school that serves classes from 1-8, all handled by a single teacher. That teacher, too, is not permanent. 

It may sound unbelievable, but this is the harsh reality of Jharkhand’s primary education system in the 21st century. 

So, how does that lone teacher manage to teach? “Honestly, I can't provide quality education. I can only give attention to a few students. On many days each month, I’m occupied with other school-related work. Everyone knows the school is in a dire state, including the department,” says Xavier Ekka, the temporary teacher at the school. 

In the same Manika block, in the village of Kankatwa, there's a primary school with 52 students and just one teacher, Muneshwar Ram. “We’re simply dragging the school along. How can one teacher provide quality education to so many children? There are four to five weekly holidays a month. Then, around 8–10 days are spent on preparing reports for the school or other government departments. That leaves only about 15–17 days for actual classes. If I teach first and second grades together, students in grades three to five are left unattended, causing noise and chaos,” he says.  

Comparing this with the middle school in Bichlidag, which has nearly three times the number of students, one can easily understand how much worse the situation is there. 

This is not a one-off case in Jharkhand. Over 8,000 government primary and middle schools across the state have been running for years with just a single teacher. According to a report prepared by the NREGA Sahayta Kendra on Jharkhand's government schools, there are 55 such schools in Latehar’s Manika block alone, where only one teacher manages the entire school. Statewide, these single-teacher schools make up about one-third of all government primary schools. 

The survey conducted in Manika found that single-teacher schools have an average of 59 students, with some schools having more than 100. Bichlidag village has the highest, with 144 students. The report also reveals that 84 per cent of these students belong to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 

According to the Right to Education Act, there should be one teacher per 30 students. Even if a school has fewer than 60 students, at least two teachers are mandatory. By that rule, the middle school in Bichlidag should have at least five teachers. Similarly, the 55 schools in Manika with 3,245 students should have at least 108–109 teachers, but shockingly, there are only 55 teachers. 

Economist Jean Drèze, who was involved in the survey, believes that primary education in Jharkhand has been in shambles for over a decade. “The most tragic part is that no one is even talking about this crisis. The government isn’t paying attention. And that’s where the problem begins,” Drèze says. According to him, Jharkhand’s primary education is among the worst in the country. 

Drèze points out that the worst-hit areas are those where tribal and Dalit children study. The survey also confirms that most children in Manika block’s schools belong to tribal communities. 

Despite repeatedly informing block and district-level education officers about the acute teacher shortage, teachers in these areas say no action has been taken. 

Latehar’s District Education Officer, Prince Kumar, acknowledged the issue and said: “We’re aware of the situation and action is being taken. Teachers will be appointed within a month or two as recruitment is ongoing. In the meantime, we are attempting to complete the syllabus through recorded classes using ICT (Information and Communication Technology) in schools with teacher shortages.” 

This problem has persisted for over a decade. Under BJP's Raghubar Das, instead of recruiting new teachers, the government attempted to resolve the issue by merging schools. Between 2016 and 2018, 1,200 and then 4,600 schools were merged in two phases. In 2019, a third phase planned to merge 6,466 schools, but political opposition stalled the plan. At the time, education experts argued that the solution lies in recruiting more teachers, not in merging schools. When Hemant Soren’s government came to power, efforts began to reopen many of the merged schools. 

Currently, Jharkhand has 44,475 government schools, including primary to higher secondary institutions. 

Regardless of which political party is in power, the grim picture of Jharkhand’s education system shows that while leaders make promises, they fail to implement meaningful reforms once in office. Often, political parties simply blame each other to cover their own shortcomings. 

Jharkhand BJP State Spokesperson Pradeep Sinha claims that former CM Raghubar Das tried to solve the issue by merging schools to improve the teacher-student ratio. “Yes, the number of schools reduced under our government, but the number of teachers increased. When Hemant Soren came to power, he scrapped the merger program for political reasons. Now the crisis has returned.” 

He further argues that if the BJP is to be blamed, then the current JMM government, which has been in power for six years, should have resolved the issue by now. 

The ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) says the Hemant Soren government is committed to improving the education system. Party spokesperson Manoj Kumar Pandey highlights the opening of “CM Schools of Excellence”—CBSE-affiliated English-medium schools aimed at delivering private school-level quality education—as a historic initiative. 

But the question remains: Will setting up CM Schools of Excellence elsewhere solve the dire problems faced by one-teacher primary schools in rural Jharkhand? 

In response, Pandey says: “You can't change a broken system overnight. But steps are being taken wherever needed. Teacher recruitment is ongoing. Many appointments have been made, and more are in the pipeline. It’s taking time, but in the coming days, Jharkhand will be seen on a new level in the education sector.” 

The NREGA Sahayta Kendra survey also notes that on the day of the survey, only one-third of students were present in school. Around 88 per cent of schools had no classes in progress. Most teachers were on temporary contracts and engaged in non-teaching duties such as maintaining records and generating students’ APAAR IDs. Only 17.5 per cent of schools had functional toilets. 

The report makes it clear that primary education in single-teacher schools has virtually collapsed, hitting marginalised communities the hardest. Disinterest in education is rising among students, leading to increasing dropout rates. 

According to Drèze, about 90 per cent of students in village government schools are poor, tribal or Dalit children. He states this educational neglect is not only a gross violation of the Right to Education Act, but also a form of systemic discrimination. 

He concludes: “Children from affluent families go to private schools. But those who have been deprived for generations, they are the ones who deserve the best education and support but are instead given the worst. As a result, they end up as labourers and eventually migrate. This is a grave injustice, and the saddest part is that no one is talking about it.” 

In response to a PIL filed by Drèze, the Jharkhand High Court has ordered the state government to immediately recruit teachers. The government has promised to appoint 26,000 teachers by September 2025. But Drèze insists this is still not enough, citing Ministry of Education data from 2020–21, which showed 95,897 teacher vacancies in Jharkhand, a number likely to have increased since.