Bhubaneswar,: More than 400 schools under the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development Department in Odisha are currently without a headmaster. Additionally, over 3,500 teaching positions and 2,000 non-teaching positions remain vacant across these schools.
Out of the 1,762 schools managed by the department, Koraput and Mayurbhanj districts have the highest number of schools (167 each), followed by Rayagada (147), Kandhamal (144), Sundargarh (137), and Jharsuguda (37). Jagatsinghpur district has the lowest number of tribal schools, with only three.
While these schools require a total of 11,676 teachers, 3,690 positions are unfilled. There is a significant shortage of headmasters, arts teachers, and mathematics teachers. However, positions for vocational subjects like agriculture, music, tailoring, and carpentry are reportedly not vacant.
Similarly, out of 6,950 caretaker positions, 2,552 remain vacant. The department had sanctioned 70 principal positions, but all of them are currently unoccupied. There are 429 headmaster positions at the secondary and higher secondary levels, out of which 77 are vacant.
There are 74 English teacher positions, with 23 vacant; 72 mathematics teacher positions, with 17 vacant; and seven computer teacher positions, with three vacant. Out of 216 multilingual teacher positions, 149 are unfilled.
Beyond teaching staff, over 2,000 non-teaching positions also remain unoccupied. Of the 3,079 women matron positions, 687 are vacant. Similarly, 90 out of 349 ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife) positions and 183 out of 390 junior clerk positions remain unfilled.
Even laboratory assistant positions in schools are facing a crisis. Out of 31 sanctioned posts across four laboratories, 21 remain vacant.