Absenteeism of teachers: Not as big a problem in India as we think

Several studies have found a large difference between teacher absence and teacher absenteeism

Hiralal, a 36-year old headteacher in a small government school in Basarpur, a village in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, was absent 45 out of 200 working days (22.5%), the school time prescribed by the Right to Education (RTE) Act. (The name of the teacher and the school have been changed to maintain confidentiality.) In a country where only 59% of grade III children can read and understand a passage, according to the government’s National Achievement Survey, good quality teaching could be key to changing the