Over 50% teacher posts lying vacant in Kendriya Vidyalayas across India

chennai: more than half of the sanctioned teaching positions in kendriya vidyalayas (kvs) across the country remain vacant, severely impacting students, officials said.at present, 1,287 kendriya vidyalayas function under the union ministry of education in 25 zones across india and abroad, catering to over 1.36 crore students. however, teacher recruitment has not kept pace with retirements over the past several years, resulting in a heavy reliance on temporary faculty.“teachers are being appointed on an 11-month contractual basis instead of filling permanent vacancies. many subjects face an acute shortage of qualified staff, affecting students, particularly children of central government employees,” kv principals said.the issue is not confined to kvs alone. jawahar navodaya vidyalayas and several state-run and private schools also face teacher shortages. overall, around 10 lakh teaching positions remain vacant across the country.during a recent consultation meeting in new delhi, education ministry officials acknowledged the vacancies and attributed the delay in recruitment to the implementation of the new education policy and the need to ensure caste-based representation. officials assured that steps would be taken to fill the vacant posts by the next academic year, the sources added.