Mapping India’s 10 Million Teachers In 6 Charts

Overall, 54% teachers are female and 46% are male, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) data, but at higher levels of schooling, men outnumber women.

Data also show that the number of non-teaching staff fell by 22% to 720,000 in 2024-25. This means that in 2024-25, there was only one non-teaching staff member for every 14 teachers.

The average number of teachers per school increased from six in 2022-23 to seven in 2024-25. The number of schools with a single teacher declined 12% to 104,125, while teachers working in schools with zero enrolments fell 23% to 20,817 during the same period.

In August 2025, IndiaSpend reported that as the number of teachers in government schools is rising, reading and arithmetic outcomes among students have also improved.

In six charts, we track how India’s teachers are spread across India and how their profiles are shifting.

Where are most teachers?

India’s teaching workforce grew from 9.48 million in 2022-23 to 10.12 million in 2024-25, driven mainly by upper primary and higher secondary schools. By 2024-25, the higher secondary stage (grades XI-XII) employed the largest share of teachers, followed by upper primary (grades VI-VIII).

Private schools added teachers faster

In 2024-25, for every 10 teachers in India, nearly four were in private schools. Over the last four years, the total number of teachers increased by 4.4%. Government schools added 4.5% to 5.15 million, while private unaided schools added 8.6% to their workforce, taking the number to around 4 million.

A 2023 report by the Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, found that employment terms for private school teachers are often unfavourable. Nearly half were working without a written contract, and even teachers on long contracts received only about 60% of the average government teacher salary.

Poor pupil-teacher ratios in Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Odisha

In 2022-23, India had 27 students for every teacher. This improved to 25 in 2023-24 and further to 24 in 2024-25, according to UDISE+ data. There were 20 students per teacher in the primary stage, 17 at upper primary, 15 at secondary, and 23 at higher secondary.

At the higher secondary level, several states had PTRs above the 30:1 limit set under the National Education Policy 2020. These included Jharkhand (47), Maharashtra and Odisha (37), Uttar Pradesh (35), and Andhra Pradesh (30).

By contrast, states such as Chhattisgarh (12), Madhya Pradesh (15), Rajasthan (15), and Punjab (16) recorded the lowest ratio among the large states.

More women employed in lower levels

Of 10.1 million teachers in 2024-25, about 5.5 million were female (54%) and 4.6 million were male (46%).

The balance shifts with school level. At the pre-primary stage, 96% of teachers were female. At the secondary and higher secondary levels, the trend reversed, with 57% teachers being male and 43% female.

In 2024-25, of every 10 teachers in Kerala, about eight were female, while in Tamil Nadu and Punjab around seven were female. By contrast, several northern and eastern states had more male teachers. In Rajasthan and Jharkhand, only 41% were female, and in Bihar about 43% of teachers were female.

Graduate teachers rising, professional training down

According to the latest microdata, teachers who were graduates rose 7.2%, from 2.78 million in 2022-23 to 2.98 million in 2024-25, and the number of teachers with postgraduate or higher qualifications has increased 9.8% during the same period.

At the same time, teachers with professional training have declined. The number of diploma holders fell by 8% to 1.43 million, while those with a Bachelor of Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.) dropped 14% to 170,000. The share of teachers below graduate level also fell by 7% over the same period.

Overall, 87% teachers had at least a bachelor’s degree, while 46% had postgraduate or higher degrees.

UNESCO’s State of Education Report 2021 calls for innovation in teacher preparation, urging pre-service programmes to provide deeper pedagogical knowledge and stressing that professional standards should guide development rather than serve as appraisal tools.

In September 2024, we reported that training alone is not enough for teachers, and that greater investment is needed in both teachers and students.

One support staff for 14 teachers

In 2022-23, India had one non-teaching staff member for every 10 teachers. With an increase in the number of support staff, the ratio improved to one for every eight teachers the following year.

By 2024-25, the gap increased, with a 22% drop in support staff, leading to one support staff for every 14 teachers.

The 2023 TISS report also found that more staff support was available in private schools, including librarians, computer lab assistants, and clerical and cleaning staff. Government schools had the lowest proportion of non-teaching staff, except for cooking staff.

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