The Assam Assembly on Wednesday was informed that more than 36500 posts of teachers have been lying vacant in schools of all levels across the State.
State Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya said that a total of 36523 posts of teachers are presently lying vacant in the State in response to a query by AGP MLA Utpal Dutta.
Bhattacharya informed that out of the total 17293 vacant posts of primary school teachers in Assam, 10137 are in lower primary and 7156 are in upper primary schools.
Out of the high, higher and Madrassa schools, 63 principals, 512 vice principals, 1353 subject teachers, 956 headmasters , 253 assistant headmasters, 15923 assistant teachers and 188 demonstrators are lying vacant.
AIUDF MLA Ananta Kumar Malo asked the education minister about the reason behind the large number of vacant posts of teachers in the state at the time of Question Hour.
Bhattacharya answered that schools do not inform the Education Department about the date a teacher is retiring till the person’s last day in office.
He also said that the process of appointing a teacher is quite long . He further added that the schools have now been asked to inform 180 days ahead about a teacher’s retirement to the Education Department so that the appointment process is completed on time.
However, BJP MLA Debananda Hazarika said that school inspectors of every district know about the exact date of retirement of a teacher and it is their responsibility to inform the Education Department on time so that the appointment process can be carried out within proper time.