Parliamentary panel flags 10 lakh teacher vacancies, seeks end to contractual hiring

A Parliamentary Standing Committee has raised an alarm over a shortage of teachers across the school education system, revealing that around 10 lakh sanctioned teaching posts remain vacant in schools across the country. In its report, the Committee has urged the government to make permanent recruitments to these posts by March 2026 and end the practice of hiring contractual staff.

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Vacancies on the rise

The 368th report of the Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports — chaired by Congress MP Digvijay Singh — was presented to both Houses on August 8. The report is titled ‘Review of Functioning of National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and Initiatives Taken to Support Training of Teachers in Light of NEP 2020’s Thrust on Capacity Building of Teachers’.

According to the report, the total sanctioned teaching posts in the country across both elementary and secondary levels rose from 63.26 lakh in 2023-24 to 69.86 lakh in 2024-25. Yet, the number of vacancies also increased, from 9.59 lakh to 9.83 lakh in the same period.

At the elementary level, the number of vacancies dropped from 7.24 lakh to 5.72 lakh, but at the secondary level, they surged from 2.34 lakh to over 4.09 lakh.

The shortage is not confined to state-run schools. Even centrally administered Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs), considered among the country’s best-resourced public institutions, are struggling with 30-50 per cent of teaching positions unfilled.

Stop contractual teachers hiring

“The Committee takes note that around 10 lakh posts of teachers in school education are lying vacant in the country. The Committee also notes that out of 14.8 lakh schools, Government of India administers just about 3,000 schools. In this regard, the committee is constrained to note that the level of vacancies in Government of India-administered schools like KVs, NVs etc. is also alarming. There are overall 30 to 50 per cent vacancies in KVs and NVs also and contractual appointments of teachers are being done in spite of repeated recommendations of the Committee to fill up the vacancies,” the report said.

“The Committee, therefore, reiterates its recommendations contained in its 349th and 363rd Reports and directs the Department of School Education and Literacy to fill-up vacancies of teachers in Government of India-administered schools like KVs, NVs etc. through appointment of regular/permanent teachers instead of contractual teachers at the earliest and not later than 31st March, 2026 and apprise the Committee in this regard,” it added.

The Committee also recommended the Department to “stop contractual appointments of teachers in these schools which adversely impact the overall school education and undermine the Constitutional provisions of reservation in Government jobs to SC, ST, OBC, EWS, PwD etc”.

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SSA schools under the scanner

The Committee also had sharp observations about the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA)-funded schools.

Samagra Shiksha is “an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class 12”, prepared with the “broader goal of improving school effectiveness measured in terms of equal opportunities for schooling and equitable learning outcomes”. It subsumes the three schemes of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education (TE).

The Committee said there has been “no improvement” in filling vacancies of these state government schools despite multiple recommendations in earlier reports, and said “rather it is worsening day by day due to retirements of teachers and due to absence of a permanent recruitment policy”.

“The Committee, therefore, recommends the Department to take up the matter of vacancies of teachers in SSA-funded schools of the state governments strongly and teachers' salary component of SSA funds of those States which do not comply with the directions of the Department to fill up the vacancies with regular/permanent teachers, should be kept in abeyance till the respective states comply with the directives of the central government,” the report said.

Violation of Constitutional provisions

“The Committee also recommends the Department to take up the issue of appointment of teachers on a contractual basis, which violates the Constitutional provisions of reservation in government jobs to SC, ST, OBC, PwD and EWS category. The Committee recommends for stoppage of appointment of teachers on a contractual basis in SSA-funded schools,” it added.

The vacancies extend into the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) itself, which is responsible for setting and maintaining teacher education standards. The Committee noted that 54 per cent of Group A posts, 43 per cent of Group B posts and a staggering 89 per cent of Group C posts are vacant. No permanent appointments, teaching or non-teaching, have been made since 2019.

The Committee noted that instead of permanent recruitment, the NCTE had increasingly relied on short-term consultants. Contractual appointments in non-teaching roles rose from just four in 2019 to 34 in 2024, before dropping to 13 by mid-2025.

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Human resources shortage

“The Committee feels that any organisation cannot function properly nor can it do justice to the mandate and responsibilities, it has been conferred by an Act of Parliament in absence of sufficient manpower/ human resources. The Committee, therefore, recommends the Department/ NCTE to fill up the vacancies in Group A, B and C in a time-bound manner and latest by 31st March, 2026 for effective realisation of objectives of NEP, 2020 and teachers' training in the country,” the report said.

“The Committee takes note of the submission of Department/NCTE which states that "to mitigate the shortage, temporary measures have been taken by employing consultants on short-term contracts." The Committee also takes serious note that no permanent teaching, non-teaching, or administrative staff have been recruited by NCTE since 2019 till 15th June, 2025. The Committee, therefore, recommends the Department of School Education and Literacy and NCTE to fill up the vacancies at the earliest on permanent/regular basis to ensure Constitutional Rights of SC, ST, OBC, EWS and PwD etc,” the report said.

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Structural issues flagged

Beyond vacancies, the Committee flagged a series of structural issues in teacher education policy. It warned that the draft NCTE Regulations 2025, with their rigid stage-specific qualifications, risked creating “deployment inflexibilities” and legal disputes with state recruitment rules. It recommended a more flexible two-tier teacher preparation system.

“The Committee notes that a separate set of teachers for pre-primary and classes 1 &2 and another set of teachers for classes 3-5 are not practically feasible due to recruitment rules of various states. The Committee feels that two broad levels of teacher education should be in place for the effective implementation of teacher education i.e. pre-primary/ primary level teachers for pre-primary and primary who can teach all subjects at this stage and Middle and Secondary level for subject-specific teachers. This approach would allow teachers to work across multiple stages and subjects, which will reduce deployment inflexibilities and imbalances in demand/supply of teachers,” the Committee said in its report.

“A primary teacher can teach classes 1-5 with a focus on foundational skills, while secondary teachers can cover classes 6-12 with subject expertise. The Committee therefore, recommends the Department/NCTE to review the Draft NCTE Regulation, 2025 in view of various concerns regarding hyperspecialisation and segmentation of teachers' education,” it added.