Odisha's School and Mass Education Department has ordered district collectors to immediately address the issue of single-teacher elementary schools. The directive aims to ensure full compliance with the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act 2009. A letter dated August 6 outlines these instructions.
Urgent Action on Single-Teacher Schools
The state currently has 1,458 single-teacher schools . These schools impact the education of nearly 6,000 students in the upcoming 2025-26 academic session. Data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) confirms this situation.
The RTE Act mandates minimum teacher-student ratios and staffing levels for elementary schools. Sections 19 and 25 of the Act, along with its attached schedule, define these requirements. Single-teacher schools cannot fulfill these mandates.
Collector's Responsibilities and Timeline
District collectors must prioritize schools with the highest student enrollment. They are tasked with deploying or adjusting teachers to eliminate single-teacher schools. This process is termed 'rationalization'.
Collectors must complete this rationalization within one month . They must also submit an action taken report within 15 days of receiving the directive.
The School and Mass Education Department has marked this issue as most urgent. The state aims for zero single-teacher schools across all districts. Students are entitled to adequate teaching staff in every elementary school, as stipulated by the RTE Act.
