According to data released by the state’s education department in reply to a Right to Information (RTI) application filed by academician Deepak Patel, over 60 per cent of Ahmedabad’s primary school teachers have either studied till Class X, or have dropped out after the senior secondary level. Not only don’t they have any professional training to be teachers, most of them are not even graduates.

Deepak Patel, the Secretary of Gujarat Private Teachers’ Association, filed the RTI application last year to find out the number of unqualified teachers in private, primary schools of Gujarat.

The education department furnished information only for Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surendranagar, Surat, Kheda, Bhavnagar, Sabarkantha, Jamnagar, Kutch, Anand and Bhuj.

In Surat, 35 per cent teachers are not qualified, while the corresponding number for Kutch is 53 per cent. The story is the same in all districts. The teachers are also not paid adequate salaries.

Some data is unbelievable. In Ashish Hindi Vidyalaya on Vastral Road, those who were born in the 1980s, have been appointed in the 90s. Their ages were barely 10 on the date of appointment.

In other parts of India, one has to have a BEd or an MEd degree to teach. In Gujarat however, those with a Primary Teachers Certificate (PTC) are allowed to teach in primary schools. Despite this, over fifty per cent of teachers are not qualified.

Vinod Pandya, Secretary of Gujarat Pradesh Talimi Snatak Samiti, said, “From our estimates, there are at least 15,000 PTC teachers and 30,000 BEd teachers who are unemployed in Gujarat at present. Schools prefer to employ unqualified teachers because they do not take school authorities to court for paying them less and not according to NCERT rules on salaries. This rule says that salaries of teachers should be according to the Fifth Pay Commission.”

In the past, the Samiti has taken up complaints from qualified and underpaid teachers with the director of primary education, the minister of education and even the chief minister. Last year, the Gujarat High Court issued a notice to the state education secretary and director of primary education on why educated teachers are not getting jobs.

Deepak Patel said, “The situation has gone from bad to worse because there is no inspection by the education department.”

Hardik Vyas, who admitted his three-year-old niece to HB Kapadia New High School on CG Road today, paid Rs 21,000 as donation to the school.

The money was taken for educational research fund, sports development fund, library fund, building fund, staff welfare fund and student welfare fund.