Jharkhand, J&K the worst affected. Despite large number of vacancies, CBSE did not conduct eligibility test last year.
New Delhi: Over 17.6 per cent of teaching posts in government elementary schools and 15.7 per cent in state-funded secondary schools are vacant across the country, shows the latest data compiled by the Central government.
As per the data, provided by Minister of State for HRD Upendra Kushwaha in Lok Sabha, as of 30 July, 2018, there are 9,00,316 vacancies in elementary schools, whereas, in secondary schools, 1,07,689 posts are lying vacant.
Despite the huge number of vacant posts, the CBSE did not conduct the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET) in 2017, citing ‘administrative reasons’. It is a mandatory exam for getting teaching jobs in government schools from class 1 to class 8.
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J&K, Jharkhand the worst affected
Of the states and union territories, Jharkhand with 40.7 per cent vacant posts at the elementary level and Jammu and Kashmir with 82.7 per cent vacancies at the secondary level are in the most abysmal condition.
Collectively, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have almost half of the total vacancies in teaching posts across the country at the elementary schools.
Goa, Odisha, and Sikkim have reported no vacant posts at the elementary level. Six states including union territories have zero vacancies at the secondary level.
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There is not a single state or union territory that has zero teaching vacancies both in the elementary and secondary schools.