Ranchi, April 09: The Jharkhand High Court on Tuesday directed the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) to initiate the recruitment of 26,000 school teachers in response to a severe shortage across the state’s government primary schools.
A division bench led by Chief Justice M S Ramachandra Rao asked the JSSC chairman to clarify when the recruitment process will be initiated and completed. The directive came during the hearing of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in June 2024 by economist and activist Dr Jean Drèze and co-petitioner Paran Amitava.
According to data presented in the case from the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2021-22, over 8,000 schools in Jharkhand are functioning with only one teacher, representing more than 30% of the state’s government primary schools. Jharkhand was identified as having the worst teacher shortage among India’s major states, with no recruitment of teachers since 2016.
The petition argued that the state has only around 35,000 primary school teachers, despite the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 mandating one teacher for every 30 students and at least two teachers per school. Based on these norms, Jharkhand requires nearly 100,000 primary school teachers, leaving a shortfall of more than 60,000.
The Jharkhand government, in an affidavit submitted last month, acknowledged the shortage and explained that the delay in recruitment was due to a long-standing legal dispute over the eligibility of candidates qualifying through the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) versus the Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test (JTET). The issue was settled by the Supreme Court in January 2025, clearing the way for fresh appointments.
Chief Justice Rao instructed the state to fast-track the process and made the JSSC a respondent in the case. The next hearing is scheduled for April 16.
“This step gives some hope to all the children of Jharkhand who are being deprived of quality education,” said petitioner Dr Jean Drèze. “However, the teacher shortage is huge, and it will take strong directions from the court to ensure that the Jharkhand government abides by the norms of the Right to Education Act.”
The petitioners were represented by Advocate Piyushita Meha Tudu.
