Jammu, Mar 08: The government on Saturday said that there are seven sanctioned posts of principals in the Anantnag constituency, out of which six are filled, leaving one vacant. This information was provided in response to a starred question posed by MLA Peerzada Mohammad Syed regarding the number of vacant positions for principals, masters, and teachers in his constituency.
In a written response, the Minister in charge of School Education said that among the 39 sanctioned posts of masters in middle schools, only 24 are filled, leaving 15 vacant. Similarly, in high schools, 51 positions are sanctioned, with 31 filled and 20 vacant, while in higher secondary schools, 31 positions are sanctioned, with only 12 in place and 19 still unfilled.
The shortage of general line teachers is also evident, as middle schools have 297 sanctioned positions, of which 274 are occupied, leaving 23 vacant. In high schools, 107 general line teacher positions are sanctioned, with 102 filled and five vacant, whereas in higher secondary schools, 58 positions are sanctioned, with 55 filled and three remaining vacant.
Government said that the school education department is making all out efforts to overcome the dearth of teaching staff by proper identification and subsequent deployment in the required schools by way of rationalisation till post are filled by the recruiting agencies and by the promotion through Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs).
Regarding the literacy rate in Jammu and Kashmir, the government cited the 2011 Census, which recorded an overall literacy rate of 67.16%, with male literacy at 76.75% and female literacy at 56.43%. However, the government estimated that the current literacy rate in the Union Territory has improved and now stands at 78.82%.
