Chandigarh, Feb. 26 -- Haryana education minister Mahipal Dhanda on Wednesday said 298 government schools in the state were functioning without a permanent teacher while 1,051 had only one such teacher. In a written statement pertaining to an unstarred question, the education minister informed the assembly during the ongoing budget session that 21.55 lakh students were enrolled in government schools of the state during 2025-26 academic session, out of which 7.94 lakh belong to Scheduled Caste (SC). The education department furnished this information in response to a question by Congress MLA Pooja, who represents Mullana reserve assembly segment. The MLA also wanted to know the number of government schools not having permanent teacher or only one permanent teacher and the present teacher-student ratio. "There are 298 government schools in the state having no regular teacher and 1,051 government schools have only one permanent teacher. The government is making sincere efforts to provide education to the students of these schools by making internal adjustment of teachers," read the written reply of the education minister. Dhanda stated that some of the steps taken included periodic rationalisation of teaching staff based on enrolment and prescribed Teacher-Pupil Ratio (TPR) to ensure equitable distribution of teachers. Online transfer drives to facilitate transparent and need-based posting of teachers in deficit schools, filling vacant posts through promotion and regular recruitment by the Haryana Staff Selection Commission and Haryana Public Service Commission were among other steps being taken to deal with the issue. Teachers were also being engaged through the Haryana Kaushal Rozgar Nigam (HKRN), wherever necessary, to ensure that academic activities are not adversely affected in schools facing temporary shortages, the minister stated. As per the reply, the teacher-student ratio was 27:1 in primary schools (Classes 1-5), 18:1 in middle schools (Classes 6-8) and 22:1 in secondary (Classes 9 and 10) and senior secondary classes (Classes 11 and 12). The education minister also shared that on the lines of PM Shri schools, the state government will soon start CM Shri schools, which will follow the CBSE pattern. He said education department had reserved 25% seats at the entry-level classes in private schools for students belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and Disadvantaged Groups (DG). Last year, 14,127 such applications were received for admission in private schools under the Right to Education Act, out of which 11,803 successful applicants were allotted private schools, the minister said. He added that for admission under RTE, the annual family income must be less than Rs.1.80 lakh....