Ivory Tower: Over 9,000 teacher vacancies in Punjab govt schools, reveals report

Despite the Aam Aadmi Party-led state government’s sharp focus on the public education sector, the sector continues to be plagued by a shortage of teachers across all categories of schools. This has been highlighted in the Project Approval Report of Samagra Shiksha for Punjab. The report draws attention to teacher vacancies at the elementary and senior secondary school levels, in addition to pointing out pending infrastructure facilities.

A perusal of the report reveals that there are 5,638 vacancies in government elementary schools and 3,612 in senior secondary schools. “The vacancies signify a gap in the education system, indicating the urgent need for proactive measures… the state needs to fill these vacant posts on priority,” says the report.

The report also highlights that of the 19,330 government schools in the state, 7,182 have less than 50 per cent enrolment, while 2,451 schools are functioning with only one teacher each.

In addition, the percentage of schools with an adverse Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) at the elementary level is 26.98. “The state needs to ensure rationalisation of such schools and ensure the required number of teachers in all schools, especially at the elementary level,” the report states.

The pendency in infrastructure facilities, such as the construction of toilets for both boys and girls, additional classrooms, integrated science labs, and skill education labs, is also highlighted in the report. As expected, the pendency level for the construction of girls’ toilets is higher (17 per cent) compared to boys’ toilets, where the pendency is 4.98 per cent.

The report states that these are committed liabilities as per the Samagra Shiksha framework. The state has been urged to come up with a concrete plan of action to complete the pending works.