Tripura’s tribal council schools struggle with teacher shortage, over 300 with single teacher

The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) has over 300 primary schools with a single teacher, Chief Minister Manik Saha informed the Assembly on April 1.

The northeastern state's 1,387 elementary schools in Sixth Schedule districts are administered by the independent district council, which covers about two-thirds of the state's land and is home to the tribal population.

Replying to a calling attention motion raised by Tipra Motha Party MLA Pathan Lal Jamatia, the CM, who holds the education portfolio, said that the TTAADC operates 1,387 primary schools, with 30,273 students and 3,504 teachers.

He also mentioned that the state had deputed 709 instructors to these institutions to address the teacher shortage in TTAADC-run schools.

"Even though the student-teacher ratio is good in tribal council-run primary schools, 302 schools are functioning with just one teacher. This highlights the urgent need for a more even distribution of teachers in TTAADC schools. If we can achieve this, the problem will be resolved," he said.

The Chief Minister also discussed the reasons behind low enrollment in these schools.

"A low birth rate is the primary cause of low enrollment. Additionally, the opening of English medium schools has contributed to the declining trend in student enrollment," he explained.

He emphasized the state's commitment to providing high-quality education to children in TTAADC-run schools and revealed that the TTAADC authorities had been allocated ₹1.20 crore to rehabilitate several schools between 2024 and 2025.

"The state allocates a substantial amount to pay the salaries of the teachers posted in different schools on a deputation basis. This amounts to approximately ₹66.98 crore annually," he added.

Saha also shared the dropout rates in the TTAADC-run primary schools, stating that the dropout rate for primary and secondary levels was 0.90% and 27.10% in 2017-18, but these figures had decreased to 0.5% and 10.4%, respectively, in subsequent years.

He attributed the drop in tribal areas to factors such as child marriage, teaching-learning challenges, economic conditions, and the rise of English medium schools.