Analysis of Teacher Training & Professional Qualifications in India
Analysis based on UDISEPlus 2023-24 Data
Overview of Teacher Training in India
Teachers are pivotal to the quality of education in any nation, particularly India, which has diverse demographics. Trained and qualified teachers form the backbone of an effective education system, ensuring structured, engaging, and inclusive learning experiences across primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels.
- Primary Education: Trained teachers play a key role in fostering foundational literacy and numeracy through age-appropriate pedagogy and personalized learning approaches.
- Secondary Education: Subject-specific expertise helps deepen students’ understanding, critical thinking, and engagement with a broader curriculum.
- Higher Secondary Education: Teachers prepare students with specialized knowledge and guidance for higher education and careers.
Beyond academics, trained educators create inclusive classrooms, address students’ emotional and psychological needs, and employ modern tools like ICT. This adaptability is crucial in India’s culturally diverse context. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 further highlights their role in promoting experiential learning, vocational education, and holistic development.
In a dynamic world, skilled teachers must equip students with 21st-century skills, creativity, and lifelong learning habits, ensuring their academic and personal growth.
Trained Teachers & Professionally Qualified Teachers
The UDISE+ Report for 2023-24 presents data on the percentage of trained teachers and professionally qualified teachers at various levels of education across Indian States and Union Territories. The two key dimensions analysed are:
- Trained Teachers: Teachers who have undergone basic teacher training.
- Professionally Qualified Teachers: Teachers with requisite qualifications, such as B.Ed. or D.El.Ed., necessary for their roles.
The National Averages reveal:
- About 92 percent of teachers at the Primary level, 92.9 percent at the Secondary level, and 92.2 percent at the Higher Secondary level were trained in 2023-24.
- Of the total teachers teaching at the primary level, 88.2 percent were trained compared to 90.7 percent at the Secondary level, and 89 percent at the Higher Secondary level (Table 1) were professionally qualified teachers.
Percentage of Trained and Professionally Qualified Teachers, 2023-24
%age Trained Teachers |
%age Professionally Qualified Teachers | |||||||
State/UT | Primary | Upper
Primary |
Secondary | Higher Secondary | Primary | Upper
Primary |
Secondary |
Higher Secondary |
Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 96.9 | 94.5 | 95.3 | 95.7 | 95.9 | 92.0 | 92.8 | 93.2 |
Andhra Pradesh | 97.0 | 93.5 | 91.1 | 83.3 | 96.0 | 92.7 | 90.6 | 71.5 |
Arunachal Pradesh | 88.5 | 91.5 | 89.2 | 94.0 | 81.3 | 85.9 | 85.5 | 92.0 |
Assam | 84.0 | 78.7 | 66.4 | 65.7 | 73.4 | 65.8 | 50.2 | 52.0 |
Bihar | 89.5 | 87.1 | 93.3 | 90.9 | 86.4 | 83.5 | 91.3 | 87.7 |
Chandigarh | 93.6 | 88.2 | 98.8 | 98.8 | 93.2 | 88.1 | 98.5 | 98.2 |
Chhattisgarh | 91.9 | 93.7 | 87.4 | 89.2 | 86.2 | 89.9 | 83.6 | 85.8 |
Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu | 94.2 | 95.3 | 96.5 | 94.8 | 91.8 | 92.6 | 94.3 | 92.5 |
Delhi | 96.7 | 96.5 | 98.5 | 99.5 | 96.6 | 96.4 | 98.4 | 99.4 |
Goa | 98.4 | 97.9 | 97.9 | 98.1 | 97.3 | 97.3 | 97.1 | 95.4 |
Gujarat | 96.1 | 94.9 | 97.2 | 97.5 | 94.3 | 93.8 | 96.4 | 96.6 |
Haryana | 92.2 | 91.9 | 95.3 | 96.1 | 89.8 | 89.9 | 93.7 | 94.7 |
Himachal Pradesh | 96.7 | 95.0 | 96.3 | 97.0 | 95.5 | 93.9 | 95.0 | 95.1 |
Jammu & Kashmir | 77.3 | 78.5 | 91.4 | 92.0 | 68.6 | 72.5 | 87.5 | 87.2 |
Jharkhand | 90.4 | 91.4 | 95.4 | 93.5 | 85.6 | 86.8 | 93.5 | 90.3 |
Karnataka | 97.2 | 97.0 | 89.5 | 92.0 | 95.5 | 95.5 | 88.3 | 82.2 |
Kerala | 98.5 | 97.3 | 97.8 | 98.7 | 97.8 | 96.5 | 97.2 | 97.2 |
Ladakh | 88.1 | 88.7 | 92.1 | 91.4 | 79.2 | 82.2 | 87.4 | 87.5 |
Lakshadweep | 95.3 | 93.2 | 94.9 | 97.9 | 95.2 | 94.1 | 94.3 | 98.3 |
Madhya Pradesh | 91.6 | 91.7 | 80.9 | 87.8 | 87.7 | 87.9 | 78.2 | 85.6 |
Maharashtra | 96.9 | 95.5 | 97.8 | 97.9 | 95.5 | 94.2 | 96.7 | 96.3 |
Manipur | 83.1 | 82.6 | 76.4 | 82.0 | 76.4 | 75.1 | 69.6 | 73.3 |
Meghalaya | 69.8 | 79.3 | 65.6 | 62.5 | 62.4 | 73.7 | 56.9 | 51.3 |
Mizoram | 87.4 | 91.2 | 82.0 | 82.2 | 84.0 | 88.8 | 76.3 | 77.6 |
Nagaland | 74.9 | 76.3 | 71.6 | 79.1 | 66.8 | 68.2 | 63.5 | 72.7 |
Odisha | 96.1 | 96.2 | 96.3 | 79.4 | 93.7 | 94.7 | 94.9 | 71.2 |
Puducherry | 96.6 | 93.9 | 98.1 | 98.6 | 94.8 | 92.7 | 97.2 | 97.3 |
Punjab | 92.4 | 91.5 | 97.3 | 97.2 | 88.9 | 88.6 | 95.4 | 94.9 |
Rajasthan | 92.8 | 94.7 | 96.5 | 97.5 | 89.1 | 92.4 | 94.8 | 96.2 |
Sikkim | 83.7 | 86.9 | 86.7 | 91.2 | 75.1 | 79.3 | 81.3 | 87.0 |
Tamil Nadu | 99.4 | 98.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 99.4 | 98.8 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
Telangana | 92.6 | 92.1 | 97.4 | 69.5 | 89.6 | 90.3 | 96.4 | 62.7 |
Tripura | 74.6 | 91.9 | 84.3 | 92.5 | 65.4 | 88.2 | 81.3 | 89.5 |
Uttar Pradesh | 88.0 | 88.3 | 88.9 | 88.4 | 83.3 | 84.0 | 84.9 | 83.9 |
Uttarakhand | 91.2 | 93.6 | 96.8 | 97.2 | 86.3 | 90.5 | 95.6 | 95.9 |
West Bengal | 88.5 | 94.9 | 97.2 | 97.7 | 85.7 | 93.2 | 96.3 | 97.1 |
India | 91.7 | 92.0 | 92.9 | 92.2 | 88.2 | 89.0 | 90.7 | 89.0 |
Source: UDISEPlus Report 2023-24. |
Regional Disparities in Teacher Training
Certain states, particularly in the North-Eastern region, show low percentages of trained and professionally qualified teachers, which calls for urgent intervention.
Lowest Percentages (North-Eastern Region)
Meghalaya: Only 69.8 percent of primary teachers are trained, dropping to 65.6 percent and 62.5 percent at the secondary and higher secondary levels, respectively. Professionally qualified teachers are also alarmingly low (62.4 percent at the primary level and 51.3 percent at higher secondary).
Nagaland: With 74.9 percent trained at the primary level, only 66.8 percent of teachers are professionally qualified.
Tripura: 74.6 percent are trained primary teachers, and only 65.4 percent are professionally qualified at this level.
Manipur: Only 83.1 percent of primary teachers are trained, with 76.4 percent at the secondary level. Professionally qualified teachers are 76.4 percent (primary) and 69.6 percent (secondary).
Other Low-Performing States
Assam: Secondary and higher secondary levels are critically low, with only 66.4 percent and 65.7 percent trained teachers and even lower professional qualification rates (50.2 percent and 52.0 percent).
Ladakh: Trained teachers remain below 90 percent at all levels, with professional qualification rates at 79.2 percent for primary and 87.5 percent for higher secondary.
National & State-Level Observations
Best-Performing States: Tamil Nadu leads with 99.4 percent-100 percent trained and professionally qualified teachers at all levels. Kerala, Delhi, and Goa also consistently report high percentages.
Gaps at the National Level: While training percentages exceed 90 percent in most states, professional qualifications are consistently lower across levels, with the gap widening at the higher secondary level.
Implications of Untrained & Unqualified Teachers
Schools with a significant proportion of untrained or unqualified teachers may face the following challenges:
Learning Outcomes: Unqualified teachers often lack pedagogical skills, adversely affecting student learning outcomes.
Teacher Retention: Untrained teachers may lack commitment, leading to high turnover rates.
Equity and Inclusion: Disadvantaged students in rural and remote areas, especially in the North-Eastern Region, suffer the most due to the lack of trained personnel.
Education Quality: The absence of professional qualifications reduces the quality of teaching, impacting India’s progress toward Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education).
Implications for Quality Education for All
The NEP 2020 emphasizes the pivotal role of teachers in achieving quality education and envisions systemic reforms to ensure an equitable and inclusive education system by 2030. The gaps highlighted in the data directly impact India’s ability to realize this vision. Below are the key implications:
Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN)
Untrained teachers in rural and underprivileged areas lack the skills to deliver effective foundational education, especially in primary schools; this undermines NEP’s goal of universal FLN by 2025, as poorly trained teachers fail to instill basic literacy and numeracy skills in students.
Teacher Capacity Building
NEP 2020 calls for continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers to keep them updated with modern pedagogical methods. However, teachers’ lack of professional qualifications, particularly in secondary and higher secondary levels, indicates a gap in access to training and CPD resources.
Equity and Inclusion
NEP 2020 emphasizes equitable access to education for all, including socio-economically disadvantaged groups (SEDGs). States with low percentages of trained and qualified teachers, such as those in the North-Eastern Region, fail to ensure equity, as students in these regions receive subpar education compared to their peers in better-performing states like Tamil Nadu or Kerala.
Digital and ICT Integration
The NEP advocates leveraging technology for teacher training and improving classroom delivery. However, teachers without professional qualifications may lack the digital skills necessary to implement ICT-based teaching methods effectively, limiting the scope of innovative education delivery.
Vocational and Higher Secondary Education
With NEP’s emphasis on vocational education and multidisciplinary approaches in secondary and higher secondary schools, untrained and unqualified teachers struggle to impart skills-based education. This results in students being underprepared for higher education or the job market.
Impact on Learning Outcomes and International Standards
India’s ability to meet Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) – ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education — by 2030 heavily relies on the quality of its teachers. States with low training and qualification levels risk falling behind, affecting national averages and international benchmarks.
Retention and Teacher Shortages
Untrained teachers are more likely to leave the profession, contributing to teacher shortages in underserved regions; this exacerbates the already high pupil-teacher ratios in rural schools, further straining education quality.
Provisions under Samagra Shiksha
Samagra Shiksha, the flagship education program, aims to address these gaps through the following measures:
Capacity Building: Regular in-service training and continuous professional development for teachers.
Teacher Recruitment: States are supported to recruit qualified teachers in remote and underprivileged areas.
Infrastructure Support: Provision of teacher resource centers and ICT-enabled training facilities.
Focus on the North-Eastern Region: To improve teacher education, special grants and resources are allocated to North-Eastern states.
Distance and Online Learning: Initiatives like NISHTHA (National Initiative for School Heads’ and Teachers’ Holistic Advancement) promote online teacher training.
Recommendations
To bridge the gap in teacher training and qualifications:
State-Specific Plans: Low-performance states, particularly Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Assam, need tailored interventions with increased funding.
Strengthening DIETs: District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) should be empowered to train more teachers in underserved regions.
Monitoring and Evaluation: Regular teacher qualifications and training effectiveness audits are recommended to be conducted.
Incentivizing Teacher Training: Scholarships or stipends can encourage unqualified teachers to complete professional courses.
Concluding Observations
India has significantly improved teacher training and professional qualifications, with national averages exceeding 90 percent in most categories. However, the persistent disparities in states like Meghalaya, Nagaland, Assam, and other states in the North-Eastern Region highlight the need for more targeted interventions. These disparities are not merely numbers but reflect systemic challenges that disproportionately affect marginalized and rural communities.
Quality education is directly tied to the capacity of teachers to deliver effective instruction, foster creativity, and support holistic student development. The presence of untrained and unqualified teachers undermines these goals, making it harder for India to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN) and improve learning outcomes. With the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisioning the transformation of India’s education system by 2030, ensuring 100 percent teacher training and professional qualifications becomes an urgent priority.