India, a country that has had a strong tradition of education in the guru-shishya parampara, is today facing a crisis situation wherein the lack of policies and infrastructure is not as worrisome as the severe shortage of teachers is.  Like the famous Indian Vanishing Rope trick, the teacher community is fast disappearing. The situation is alarming to say the least.  According to our human resource development minister, there is a shortage of 1.2 million teachers in India.

India has made tremendous advancement in higher education in the recent years but there is acute shortage of teaching staff. There is a shortage of nearly 3 lakh teachers in higher education. With the enrolment for higher education increasing at 7 percent per year, the shortage will see a steady increase, with over 1 lakh more teachers required every year. The Centre has allowed IITs to appoint expatriate Indians as faculty but this provision has made little difference.

Also, the quality of education is deteriorating leading to poor performance by the students. To counter this, a large number of students are using the Internet for self-study and a large percentage is enrolling for online courses. This in turn is discouraging the teaching profession.

Although Right to Education Act is in force, making education a fundamental right, only a very small percentage of children in the 6-14 age group is being educated.  The worsening net pupil-teacher ratio is making matters worse. How is education for all to be a reality if there is such a severe shortage of educators?

To remedy this situation, the teaching job should be made more lucrative. Negatives such as poor physical infrastructure and low pay scales should be addressed by revising the pay scales and by providing incentives such as insurance, housing, and healthcare facilities.