Global teacher shortages highlight heavy student loads in Indian schools

UPDATE - follow-up to World Teachers' Day: What global shortages and India's numbers tell us: UNESCO warns that the world needs 44 million more primary and secondary teachers by 2030 to reach universal basic education. About 15 million of these openings are needed in sub-Saharan Africa, while Southern Asia faces a gap of 7.8 million teachers. Heavy workloads, modest pay and low recognition drive these shortages across many regions.

Global School Comparisons

India has more students for every teacher than the average across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries at the school level. The latest OECD data put India's ratio at 27 students per teacher in primary education, compared with an OECD average of 14. At lower-secondary level, India records 19 against an OECD average of 13, and at upper-secondary level it stands at 21 against 13. By comparison, primary school ratios sit at 21 in the United States, 25 in the United Kingdom, 15 in Germany, 18 in France and 15 in Spain.

Higher Education and Vacancies

A recent SBI Research report states that India's pupil-teacher ratio in higher education was 23 in 2023-24. However, state-level figures vary widely, with Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa at around 14, compared with Bihar at 57, Jharkhand at 48 and Uttar Pradesh at 33. The same report notes that India's higher-education teaching workforce grew to 17.3 lakh in 2023-24, yet centrally funded institutions face persistent staff shortages. Parliamentary data cited in the report show 14,042 vacant teaching posts out of 41,351 sanctioned positions, resulting in a vacancy rate of 34 percent.

Context

Global teacher shortages and varying student-to-teacher ratios affect the quality of classroom instruction and student learning outcomes across different education levels. Comparing educational data across countries requires looking at how different agencies classify school and higher-education levels.