As per the data presented by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) to the Lok Sabha in July 2019, there are over two lakh teacher vacancies in secondary and higher secondary schools across many states in India.
Out of the total teacher posts sanctioned nationwide, 23 per cent lay vacant. There are over 2,13,608 vacant teacher posts (as of 2018-19) across secondary and higher secondary schools in India, of which Bihar has 33,908 vacancies, followed by J&K (25,799), Arunachal Pradesh (21,393) and Madhya Pradesh (19,455). Uttar Pradesh has 16,087 vacancies. Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Haryana are among the States with more than 10,000 vacant posts.
“The recruitment of teachers is a continuous process, and the vacancies keep arising due to retirement and additional requirements on account of enhanced students’ strength,” the Ministry said in a written reply.
“Education is in the concurrent list. The recruitment, service conditions and deployment of teachers come under the purview of the concerned States/UTs,” it added. The Ministry said that it has been urging all the States and UTs to fill up vacant posts and deploy them rationally.
The statement added that the Centre, assists the States and UTs through the Samagra Shiksha scheme, for the recruitment of additional teachers to maintain the student-teacher ratio, and for the induction and in-service training of teachers.
Maharashtra, West Bengal, Lakshadweep and Mizoram have filled up all teacher posts, while Tamil Nadu and Kerala have over 4,000 vacancies each and Karnataka has 8,306.
