New Delhi: The number of vacant teaching positions in centrally-run Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) has increased by over 6,000 between 2019 and 2022, the Ministry of Education told the Parliament Monday.
Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha on the number of vacancies in KVs, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Education, Annapurna Devi, said there were 5,562 vacant teaching positions in 2019. The vacancies increased to 8,055 in 2020 and 10,452 in 2021. It stood at 12,044 by the end of June.
Two questions were raised by BJD leader Bharatruhari Mahtab and AIADMK’s P. Ravindranath. While one question was on vacant posts of KV teachers, another was on teaching vacancies in all centrally-run educational institutions.
There are 1,247 KVs across the country today, after two new schools — one in Karnataka’s Belagavi and another in Punjab’s Ropar — were inaugurated by former education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in 2021.
“The vacancies arise due to transfer, retirement etc from time to time. Filling up of vacancies is a continuous process and efforts are made to fill up the vacancies as per the provisions of the relevant recruitment rules. Teachers are also engaged on a contractual basis for temporary duration by Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan to ensure that the teaching-learning process is not hampered,” the MoS added.
A separate data shared by the ministry also showed that there are a total 9,161 contractual staff in KVs. The total strength of teachers across KVs ranges from 42,000 to 45,000 currently.
Devi also requested state governments and union territory administrations to fill vacancies on a “mission mode from time to time”.
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Tamil Nadu has highest number of vacancies
Tamil Nadu has the highest number of vacancies for teaching (1,162) and non-teaching (97) positions, the ministry data revealed. The state also has 983 contractual staff employed in KVs.
Madhya Pradesh has 1,066 vacant teaching and 117 non-teaching positions. The state has employed 784 contractual staff.
Some of the states and union territories with the least number of vacancies in KVs are Chandigarh (23 teaching posts), Sikkim (8 teaching posts) and Ladakh (9 teaching posts).
The ministry’s answer also revealed that the number of vacant positions in the reserved category has shown a significant drop. In the Scheduled Caste category, the number dropped from 822 in 2019 to 337 in 2021. Similarly, in the Other Backward Classes category, the number has dropped from 1,152 in 2019 to 457 in 2021. In the Scheduled Tribe category, the numbers dropped from 410 to 168 between 2019 and 2021.
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