Over 50% teaching posts in UP Government Inter Colleges vacant: Education Minister

NEW DELHI: The Government Inter Colleges (GICs) for students of Classes 6 to 12 in Uttar Pradesh are carrying out academic activities with less than half of the required number of teachers. In 898 GICs established in 75 districts of the state, 9,787 teachers posts – 51 % – are lying vacant against sanctioned posts totalling 18,919, according to state government data. In the government schools teaching Classes 1 to 8 and managed by the basic education department, more than 63,000 posts of teachers are vacant against the sanctioned 5,80,084 posts.

The data of vacant posts of teachers was shared on September 20 by secondary education minister Gulab Devi and basic education minister Sandeep Singh in the ongoing monsoon session of legislative assembly of Uttar Pradesh.

Teachers vacancy in UP

In a written reply to a question by Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Mohd Faheem Irfan, Devi informed the legislative assembly that there are 9,132 teachers posted against the sanctioned posts of 18,919.

Devi said that teacher recruitment is a continuous process. “The list of selected candidates has been received from the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC). The process of posting the candidate is going on through online mode,” she said.

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In response to a question by Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) MLA Prasanna Kumar, Singh informed the legislative assembly that a total of 51,112 posts of school teachers are vacant in rural UP and 12,149 posts in urban areas against the sanctioned 5,80,084 posts.

Singh said the UP government initiated teacher recruitment in government schools in two phases after the Supreme Court, on July 27, 2017 cancelled the appointment of 1,37,517 qualified Shiksha Mitras (adhoc primary teachers) as assistant teachers in schools run by Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Council. He said that the process of recruiting 68,500 assistant teachers in the first phase has been completed. The recruitment of 69,000 assistant teachers in the second phase is pending due to various pleas filed in the Allahabad High Court.

School infrastructure

In the legislative assembly, UP Minister Singh said that the government is “collecting information” whether or not the work of supplying pure drinking water to the students has been completed. He also informed that there is “no arrangements” for completing the tasks of schools using computers.

Out of 87,271 government primary schools being run by the Basic Education Council in the state, only 17,987 schools have the bench and desk for the students, Singh said while responding to a question in legislative assembly. This means that 69,284 primary schools in Uttar Pradesh are running without proper sitting arrangements for students.

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“The availability of bench and desks arrangement in government-run primary schools depends on the availability of budget,” Singh said.

In the state budget of Rs 6,15,518.97 crore for the financial year 2022-23, Uttar Pradesh finance minister Suresh Khanna allocated Rs 18,670.72 crore to Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. Under this scheme, Rs 836.80 crore has been earmarked for the construction and infrastructure development of government schools.