SCERT, DIET vacancies as high as 50% in many states; Haryana, MP, Maharashtra top list, reveals PAB meet

Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan: The Union education ministry has identified the constant vacancies in the State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) and the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) across different states as a major cause for concern. In some states, vacancies in these institutions are as high as 50%. Nagaland and Sikkim are the only two states out of the 19 whose Project Approval Board (PAB) meeting for 2026-27 has taken place and which have no vacancies in these institutions.

As per the minutes of the meeting, these vacancies have continued to persist despite the ministry asking states to take action during the 2025-26 PAB as well. Both are key state-level bodies for education – SCERTs are responsible for curriculum and textbook design and DIETs for teacher training.

PAB meetings are annual meetings held to consider the annual work plan and budget of Samagra Shiksha, a centrally sponsored scheme covering the school education sector from pre-school to Class 12.

This year however, the states have been told, “PAB approvals are interim as Samagra Shiksha 3.0 is pending for approval and as soon as the new scheme is approved, an additional PAB would be done to supplement the interim PAB approvals.”

In January this year, education minister Dharmendar Pradhan during a meeting with stakeholders stated that the scheme should move beyond “quality and equity” and transform into an “outcome-driven, quality-focused framework” aligned with the objectives of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

SCERT, DIET vacancies

The details of vacancies provided in the minutes of the meeting are of the most recent years (2025-26) as against the other data which are from the 2024-25 academic year.

In Gujarat for instance, the vacancy at SCERT has reached 53% as against 43% reported in the year 2024-25. Similarly, in DIETs the vacancy against sanctioned seats has increased to 37% from what was present in the year 2024-25 at 23.15%.

The parliamentary standing committee on education has in the past expressed concern over the significant shortage of both trainers and permanent faculty in DIET.

“This shortage impacts the quality of teacher training and, consequently, the overall quality of education in schools. The committee, therefore, recommends the Department of School Education and Literacy to pursue with the state governments with respect to the recruitment of both trainers and permanent faculty in DIETs in various states on permanent basis instead of contractual appointments and ensure that all the states fill the vacancies of trainers and permanent faculty in DIETs in a time-bound manner and not later than 31st March, 2026,” the committee had stated.

613 districts have functional DIETs out of a total 780 districts in the country. In Odisha, whose SCERT faced public backlash over the poor quality of books has 10% vacancies. Its DIET has about 43% vacancies. The ministry has set a deadline of July 31, 2026, to fill all vacancies.

“Secretary Department of School Education and Literacy stated categorically that further release of funds for DIETs under Centre of Excellence scheme will be contingent upon filling vacancies,” the meeting minutes stated. In the 2025-26 budget of the state, DIET Centre of Excellence constituted about Rs 15,190 (3.54%) of the total budget.

The list is indicative not exhaustive.

In case of Haryana, the vacancies in 2025-26 increased to 62% as against 59% in 2024-25.

Classes 5 to 8: No detention policy in BJP states

Haryana, Uttarakhand, Goa, Manipur out of the 19 listed and which are ruled by the BJP still follow the no detention policy introduced as part of the Right to Education Act 2009. The amendment to the Act in 2019 brought back detention. The detention policy is followed in Classes 5 and 8 in most states.

Kerala is another state which follows the policy and they have not stated their intention to bring it back as well. However, the centre has asked Ladakh, after it became a union territory, to take action on priority.

The minutes of the meeting states, “As the central rules are applicable to the UT of Ladakh, the UT was asked to examine the matter and take necessary action on priority to ensure compliance with the provision of the RTE Act.”

During the meeting, the Ladakh officials also requested that the PAB approval may be accorded at an earlier stage, preferably in January to facilitate timely planning of activities and implementation.

Punjab: Single-teacher schools on the rise

All the 19 states, excluding Punjab, have reported that single-teacher government primary schools have been decreasing.

In Punjab, single-teacher government primary schools have increased to 2,158 in the year 2024-25 from 1,884 schools in 2023-24; and the upper primary single-teacher schools have increased from 137 in 2023-24 to 208 in 2024-25.

To reduce low enrolment schools, Maharashtra officials put forward a suggestion to provide transport allowance under Samagra Shiksha to guarantee seamless, safe and reliable access to nearby cluster, model and PM SHRI Schools.

In the Samagra Shiksha Scheme, transport allowance is conditionally provided for unserved habitations only.

Along with these adverse PTR (Pupil Teacher Ratio), teacher vacancies, retention rate in secondary schools were a common cause of concern in all states. However, the data provided relates to the 2024-25 session, already part of UDISE+.