By: Yash Gupte
The state of Madhya Pradesh has hired roughly 50,000 teachers over the past three years, according to the prime minister, who complimented the state administration on the accomplishment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Madhya Pradesh Rozgar Mela yesterday on August 21, 2023 via video conferencing. The Prime Minister addressing the gathering said that people receiving appointment letters today are taking on the crucial role of teaching. He sent his best wishes to the more than five and a half thousand teachers who had been hired for Madhya Pradesh's primary schools during this Rozgar Mela. The state of Madhya Pradesh has hired roughly 50,000 teachers over the past three years, according to the prime minister, who complimented the state administration on the accomplishment.
He stated that while progress had been made with regard to mother tongue education, a new curriculum had also been created for primary school. The Prime Minister stated that the current administration is now placing emphasis on books in regional languages in the curriculum, which will serve as the foundation for a significant change in the nation's educational system. He emphasized the great injustice caused by not providing education in the mother tongue to students who did not speak English.
The distribution of the appointment letters is the part of PM Rozgar Mela, a mass recruitment drive of the Modi government. According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Rozgar Mela is a step towards fulfilment of the commitment of the Prime Minister to accord highest priority to employment generation and it is expected to act as a catalyst in further employment generation and provide meaningful opportunities to the youth for their empowerment and participation in national development. PM Modi had launched Rozgar Mela, a mass recruitment drive for 10 lakh personnel through video conferencing on October 22, 2022.
PM Rozgar Mela is a step taken by the Modi government towards employment generation in the country. The mass recruitment drive or the Rozgar Mela has been arranged by the central government at a very crucial point of time as the election in the state of Madhya Pradesh is just few months away. Also, according to the latest data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), India's unemployment rate in July stood at 7.95 percent. The urban unemployment rate increased from 7.87 percent in June 2023 to 8.06 percent in July. Talking about Madhya Pradesh, the central Indian state has one of the lowest unemployment rate in the country. In March 2023, Madhya Pradesh had an unemployment rate of 3.71 percent.
Source: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy
At the national level, the total number of teachers has declined by 1.95 percent in 2021-22 compared to 2020-21. The total number of teachers fell from 97.87 lakh in 2020–21 to 95.07 lakh in 2021–22. In comparison to 2020–21, there were 0.9 percent fewer teachers working in government schools, 1.45 percent in government–aided schools, 2.94 percent in private schools, and 8.3 percent in other schools in 2021–22. Hiring of teachers at the primary level in the government schools of Madhya Pradesh is an important and significant decision taken by the government.
Source: UDISE+
At all educational levels, the pupil teacher ratio improved between 2018–19 and 2021–22. PTR for primary has increased to 26, from 28 in 2018–19, in 2021–22. The PTR of higher secondary, which increased from 30 in 2018–19 to 27 in 2021–22, shows the most progress. A reduction in the PTR indicates that number of students per teacher has reduced implying more focus of teacher on students resulting in improvement in quality of teaching. Madhya Pradesh has a pupil teacher ratio of 27.
Source: UDISE+
More than five and a half thousand teachers have been hired for Madhya Pradesh's primary schools during this Rozgar Mela is a positive step taken by the government in improving the educational infrastructure of the state. According to the UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education) report of 2021-22, the total number of schools in Madhya Pradesh is 1,25,582 and the number of students is 1,61,69,265. The number of teachers in Madhya Pradesh is 6,01,208. This means that there are 5 teachers per school with a pupil-teacher ratio of 27. The number of teachers teaching at Primary level in schools across Madhya Pradesh is 1,35,327. Out of these, 1,19,051 teachers are employed in government schools. The recent decision of appointing 5500 teacher at primary level in government schools in Madhya Pradesh will ensure better teacher pupil ratio and also ensure quality education for children.
It must be noted that the government has taken a decision to generate employment in the state of Madhya Pradesh at a very crucial point of time as the elections are just few months away and there seems to be a tight contest between the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has unveiled its initial list of 39 candidates for the Madhya Pradesh Election 2023, concentrating on seats it lost in 2018 and in some cases, even in 2013. 14 candidates, including three former ministers, who had performed poorly in the last elections were supported by the ruling party. The BJP unveiled their initial slate of candidates before the announcement of the poll schedule, which was a surprise disclosure and is regarded as a change in tactics. In order to find out people’s opinion on the BJP’s early release of the candidate list, ABP News and CVoter (Centre for Voting Opinions and Trends in Election Research) conducted a snap poll.
Source: ABP News- CVoter Snap Poll
When asked if they thought this choice was good or bad, 63.2 percent of BJP supporters responded that it was the proper course of action, 23.2 percent that it was bad, and 13.6 percent that they weren't sure. Supporters of the Congress were divided on the issue: 32.7 percent thought it was the correct move, 44.9 percent thought it was the wrong one, and 279 percent were unsure. Among other respondents who are neither actively supporting the BJP nor the Congress, 43.9 percent said the BJP did the right thing by declaring the first list early, 35.6 percent felt that the BJP didn’t do the right thing , and 20.5 percent remained unsure.