46 pc posts of Lecturers vacant; 36 pc HS & 23 pc HSS headless
Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Nov 25: A large number of teaching and key administrative posts in School Education Department are lying vacant across Jammu division, raising serious concerns over the functioning, academic supervision and overall delivery of education in the Government schools.
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According to official sources, more than one third Government High Schools and around one fourth Higher Secondary Schools across Jammu Division are headless while almost half of the total posts of Lecturers of different subjects are lying vacant.
Similarly, sources added, more than 40 percent posts of Zonal Education Officers (ZEOs) and 57 percent posts of ZEPOs are also vacant while one third posts of Deputy Chief Education Officers and DEPO are unfilled.
While elaborating, sources, said that 306 High Schools and 91 Higher Secondary Schools across Jammu division are headless as posts of Headmasters and Principals in these institutions are lying unfilled while 2350 posts of Lecturers, out of 5047 total, are vacant with the result, studies of students are severely hit.
For running the administrative affairs of School Education Department at Zonal level, there are total 91 posts of ZEO across Jammu division, but 37 of them are lying vacant while 33 posts of ZEPO, out of 57 total, are also unfilled.
In respect of vacant posts of Lecturers, Headmasters and Principals, Reasi, Udhampur, Doda, Ramban, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch are among the worst affected districts.
In Udhampur, 278, out of 538 posts of Lecturers, are lying vacant while 46 High Schools (out of 107 total) and 12 Higher Secondary Schools (out of 43) are headless.
In Doda, posts of 379 Lecturers (out of 640), 13 Principals (out of 51), 52 Headmasters (out of 86), five ZEOs (out of 13), four ZEPO (out of 2) are lying vacant.
In Jammu district, posts of 216 Lecturers, 31 Headmasters, 13 Principals, six ZEOs, one Dy CEO and four ZEPOs are lying vacant.
In Kathua, only seven out of 12 posts of ZEOs are filled while 16 posts of Principal, 38 of Headmasters and 302 of Lecturers (out of 648) are vacant.
In district Ramban, 296 posts of Masters, 168 Lecturers (out of 253) and 33 Headmasters (out of 59) are lying unfilled.
In district Reasi, almost one third Higher Secondary Schools (nine) and 31 High Schools (out of 69 total) are headless with no Principals or Headmasters there while 239 posts of Lecturers (out of 355) are vacant.
In Kishtwar district, all five posts of ZEPOs, except one, and four out of seven posts of ZEOs are unfilled while 28 (out of 47) posts of Headmasters and 158 (out of 273) posts of Lecturers are vacant.
Rajouri and Poonch are among the worst affected districts. In Rajouri, posts of 327 Lecturers, 20 Headmasters, 11 Principals and seven ZEOs are unfilled while in Poonch, posts of 194 Lecturers (out of 408 total), three out of five ZEPOs, 18 out of 73 Headmasters, four out of 11 ZEOs and eight out of 33 Principals are vacant,
The vacancies at all levels—from teaching faculty to institutional heads—have put immense strain on the functioning of Government schools and Zonal offices in Jammu division.
Non-seriousness of the Government in filling up these posts can be gauged from the fact that Drawing Disbursing Officer’s powers of ZEO Jourian was given to Principal Higher Secondary School Jourian, who also attained the age of superannuation last month following which DDO powers of ZEO Jourian as well as Principal HSS Jourian have been assigned to Principal Khrah.
Adding to the administrative crisis is the fact that no Annual Transfer Drive (ATD) has been initiated this year for Jammu and Udhampur districts. The department has instead begun a Choice of Deployment exercise, but this temporary arrangement is not addressing long-standing staff shortages at the ground level.
With hundreds of Master and Lecturer posts unfilled and a large number of schools functioning without Principals and Headmasters, stakeholders are questioning who will take the academic and administrative load, including the mandatory class periods and school management responsibilities typically handled by these officers.
Teachers’ associations and parents have been repeatedly urging the School Education Department to take immediate steps to fill the vacancies as prolonged shortage of staff—especially institutional heads and Lecturers— severely impacts the quality of education, learning outcomes, inspections, and smooth functioning of schools across the Jammu division.
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