Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): As many as 72,950 teacher posts are vacant in government schools across Madhya Pradesh, with middle schools facing the worst staffing shortage, an Assembly reply has revealed.
The data show that against 2,87,455 sanctioned teacher posts, only 2,15,103 teachers are currently working, leaving 72,950 posts vacant across primary, middle and higher secondary schools.
At the primary level, there are 1,32,775 sanctioned posts, of which 1,19,690 are filled, leaving 13,683 vacancies.
The middle school level has the highest shortage, with 44,759 posts vacant against 1,11,274 sanctioned posts and 66,515 teachers in position. At the higher secondary level, 43,406 posts have been sanctioned, 28,898 teachers are working and 14,508 posts remain vacant.
District-wise, Singrauli has the highest number of vacancies at 3,605, followed by Chhatarpur (3,486), Shivpuri (3,332), Sagar (3,245) and Vidisha (2,781).
The issue was raised during the Assembly session by Congress MLA Nitendra Singh Rathore, who sought district-wise details of sanctioned, working and vacant teacher posts in government schools.
In a written reply on single-teacher schools, school education minister Uday Pratap Singh said regular teacher posts have been sanctioned and vacant positions are being managed through guest teachers.
MP trails national average in transition to higher classes
The state continues to lag behind the national average in ensuring students move from primary to upper primary and from upper primary to secondary education.
The state's transition rate from Class 5 to Class 6 stands at 91.9%, compared with the national average of 92.2%. The gap is wider at the secondary level, with 85.6% of students in MP moving from Class 8 to Class 9, against the national average of 86.6%.
The state ranked 18th in the country for the Class 5 to Class 6 transition rate and 25th for the Class 8 to Class 9 transition rate. The Assembly reply also included PARAKH 2024 assessment results, which indicate that MP students scored below the national average in several subjects.
230 schools without buildings
The construction of 2,656 new primary and secondary school buildings has been sanctioned to replace damaged structures across the state, while 7,115 special repair works have been sanctioned over the past two years. Additionally, 230 primary and secondary schools were without buildings during the past two years.
However, the minister clarified that no government high school or higher secondary school is currently without a building, as upgraded secondary and higher secondary schools function from existing school buildings. There is no proposal to renovate damaged government high school and higher secondary school buildings. Instead, the department has instructed schools not to conduct classes in unsafe buildings.
Teacher posts in government schools School level
Sanctioned posts
Teachers in position
Vacant posts
Primary
1,32,775
1,19,690
13,683
Middle
1,11,274
66,515
44,759
Higher secondary
43,406
28,898
14,508
Total
2,87,455
2,15,103
72,950
Top five districts with highest teacher vacancies
Rank
District
Vacancies
1
Singrauli
3,605
2
Chhatarpur
3,486
3
Shivpuri
3,332
4
Sagar
3,245
5
Vidisha
2,781
