Beyond Teachers Day Cards, Gifts: How 3.57 lakh vacant posts are straining India’s government schools

Teachers Day 2025 : Submissions from 18 states and union territories to the union education ministry reveal 3,57,862 sanctioned teaching posts lying vacant across government schools. The data, drawn from Project Approval Board (PAB) minutes and matched against Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) records, show 2,97,050 elementary, 28,019 secondary and 32,793 senior secondary teachers are still to be appointed.

The shortages are concentrated in a few large states. Uttar Pradesh alone accounts for 1,93,862 unfilled posts, followed by Madhya Pradesh (52,019) and Karnataka (38,163). Rajasthan reported 20,170 vacancies, mainly in senior secondary schools. Several smaller states, including Punjab, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, reported four-digit gaps, while Kerala, Odisha and Nagaland said all sanctioned teaching posts were filled.

UDISE+ , the only government repository of school data, lists nearly 9.6 million teachers nationwide, with an average pupil-teacher ratio of 26:1 at elementary level, but the vacancy pattern means actual ratios in several districts rise far higher.

Teaching vacancies in states/UTs

In states with five-figure shortages, single teachers often handle multiple grades, and merged sections are common in rural clusters.

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Teaching Vacancies: Multiple grades, single teacher

“On most days my mother teaches two grades together because the other section has no teacher. She also handles the mid-day meal roster, student records and attendance on the app,” said Sri Venni of Chennai, whose mother is a government school teacher in a rural district.

“When a colleague is on leave, she splits her time between rooms. It’s not just more work — it’s less attention for each child. The strongest kids cope, the quiet ones fall behind.”

Durga (name changed),a government upper-primary teacher in Sindhanur, Karnataka described similar pressures: “All the tasks that keep a school running — teaching, record-keeping, parent meetings, assessments, remedial classes, even election duties when they come — fall on the same two or three people when posts are vacant. When we split a class of 60 into two rooms, we still have one teacher. You can’t give every child the time they need.”

“There were days I started teaching before the first bell and ended long after the last,” said Rashi. H, a primary school English teacher in a remote village who worked in U.P several years ago. “I used to manage three classes at once because other posts are vacant, take care of attendance and exams, and often supervise midday meals. It leaves little time to give individual attention to children who struggle to keep up.”

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Single-teacher schools

Data shared with the PAB showed thousands of single-teacher schools – Jharkhand listed 7,329 at the primary level; Bihar reported 1,621; Chhattisgarh reported 5,415; Andhra Pradesh noted an increase over the previous year. Officials advised rationalising teacher postings and consolidating very small schools to meet pupil-teacher ratio norms.

Also, under the DIETs of Excellence scheme launched in 2023-24, the Centre has tied the release of infrastructure and resource funds to filling existing vacancies in District Institutes of Education and Training by June 30, 2025. Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Delhi, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and others were specifically urged to fill posts on priority.

However, the education ministry has urged states and UTs to fast-track recruitment to ease the strain on existing staff and improve pupil-teacher ratios, especially in rural and underserved districts. Officials have linked the release of certain central funds to progress on filling sanctioned posts.