New Delhi | Over 12,000 teacher posts are lying vacant in Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country, according to the Ministry of Education.

The statistics was shared by Union Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary in a written response in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

"Vacancies in teacher posts in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti arise due to various reasons such as opening of new Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas, retirement, resignation, promotion, transfer, employees proceeding on lien to other departments and upgradation of schools," Chaudhary said.

"A total of 7,765 teacher posts in Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan and 4,323 teacher posts in Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti are lying vacant across the country as of date," he said in the response.

The minister said that filling up these vacancies is a continuous process and necessary steps are being taken in accordance with the relevant recruitment rules.

"There is a provision to hire contractual teachers for a temporary duration, to ensure uninterrupted academic functioning. There are 143 vacancies in Group A academic posts in the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The process of filling up these vacancies is under way," Chaudhary said.

"There are 60 vacancies in the National Council for Teacher Education as of date," he added.