Bhopal Students Protest Teacher Crunch As MP Grapples With Special Educator Shortage
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The shortage of teachers for Children with Special Needs (CWSN) is emerging as a major concern in Madhya Pradesh, with students at a government school for specially abled children in Bhopal recently taking to the streets to protest against inadequate teaching staff and basic facilities. The shortage becomes more concerning in view of latest UDISE+ data. MP has 1,58,599…
Madhya Pradesh faces a critical shortage of special educators for children with special needs (CWSN), prompting protests at a government school in Bhopal. The state has 158,599 CWSN students enrolled in schools for the 2025-26 academic year, yet only 9,360 schools employ dedicated special educators. This results in a ratio of 17 CWSN students per special educator, failing to meet the Union's Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) guidelines.
The PTR stipulates one special educator for every 10 students at primary level and 1:15 at upper-primary level. The shortage becomes even more pressing when considering the specialized needs of CWSN students, who often require individualized learning support, sign-language interpretation, assistive learning, and regular assessments.
In Bhopal, the Government Higher Secondary School for the Visually Impaired currently has 190 visually and hearing-impaired students under the care of just three special educators, with its sign-language interpreter recently reassigned. Students are demanding the immediate recruitment of a sign-language-qualified teacher to address these critical gaps in education.
Written by urgent.news from Free Press Journal's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
