According to the 2019-20 Unified District Information on School Education report, women outnumber male school teachers in India for the first time. 49.2 lakh of the country's 96.8 lakh teachers are female.
In 2012-13, there were 35.8 lakh women teachers in India compared to 42.4 lakh men, a 37 percent increase in seven years. The number of male teachers increased from 42.4 lakh to 47.7 lakh during the same time period.
The catch is that female teachers outnumber male teachers only at the primary level. According to the report, male teachers continue to outnumber female teachers in upper primary grades. At the pre-primary level, there are over 1 lakh female teachers to 27,000 male teachers. Women make up 57%, or 2,57,790, of the 4,50,592 teachers in Karnataka.
In primary grades, the ratio is more balanced, with 19.6 lakh female teachers outnumbering 15.7 lakh male teachers. There are 11.5 lakh male teachers and 10.6 lakh female teachers in upper primary schools. The gap widens from there. There are 6.3 lakh male teachers and 5.2 lakh female teachers in secondary schools. There are 3.7 lakh men and 2.8 lakh women in higher secondary. In government and aided schools, the number of male teachers is higher, while in private unaided schools, women teachers are ahead.
With the exception of Kerala, Delhi, Meghalaya, Punjab, and Tamil Nadu, the trend of male teachers outnumbering female teachers in higher grades is seen across states. Even in secondary and higher secondary classes, the number of women teachers outnumbers the number of men. “Any dynamic and vital profession, and I consider teaching to be one of them, requires an equitable distribution of men and women.
Children must learn from teachers who can provide both a male and female perspective. Many schools in India prefer female teachers in younger classes because they are perceived to be more nurturing. However, I believe it is important for male teachers to demonstrate nurture as well! Otherwise, we show a sexist bias in favour of female teachers ,says Maya Menon, founder and director of Teacher Foundation.
“In higher classes, traditionally both male and female teachers are sought after. There are also differential salaries in India between primary and secondary school teachers,” Menon said. This is not the case in other countries: all teachers regardless of levels they teach require similar qualifications and, start with similar pay. “Male teachers in India prefer to teach in secondary school because they get paid more, especially with government scales...,” she said.
