Despite sanctioning the record numbers of Eklavya Model Residential Schools for tribal students since 2014 and setting up of the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS) to manage these schools in 2018, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs has so far been unable to fix the teacher shortage faced across 378 of such schools that are currently functional.
According to the data gathered by the Ministry, just about 4,000 teachers have been appointed across the 378 schools, of which nearly 70 per cent are either contractual teachers or on deputation from state government schools.
According to the guidelines issued to states in 2020 by NESTS, each school had been recommended to have a total of 52 staffers, of which 30 were meant to be teaching positions (1 Principal, 1 Vice-Principal, 12 Post-Graduate Teachers, 12 Trained Graduate Teachers, 1 Arts teacher, 1 Music teacher, and 2 Physical Education teachers). This would mean that 378 schools would have a total of 11,340 teachers.
