4 in 10 IIT faculty posts vacant: India's higher education has a teacher problem

India's colleges and universities have added millions of students over the past decade. But the teaching workforce has not grown at the same pace. A new Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister paper flags faculty shortages, including significant vacancies at IITs, IIMs and NITs.India's colleges and universities have added millions of students over the past decade. But the teaching workforce has not grown at the same pace.New Delhi,Nov 9, 2026 14:07 ISTIndia's higher education system has a numbers' problem. More students are entering colleges and universities, but the growth in the number of teachers has failed to keep pace.Between 2014-15 and 2023-24, student enrolment in higher education increased by 31.5%, rising from 3.42 crore to 4.50 crore. In comparison, the number of teachers grew by just 17.6%, from 14.73 lakh to 17.32 lakh.The higher education student-teacher ratio has worsened from 23:1 in 2014–15 to 26:1 in 2023–24.Academic year Students per teacher2014–15 23.2:12023–2426:1In simple terms, there were 3 more students per teacher in 2023–24 than in 2014–15.The mismatch raises an important question: as institutions expand admissions and add more seats, are they building enough teaching capacity to support the students coming in?The issue has been highlighted in a working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), titled How India is Transforming Educational Capacity under the New Education Policy 2020: School Networks, Higher Education and Pathways to Work.Authored by EAC-PM member Soumya Kanti Ghosh and economist Shashidharan Sharma, the paper argues that expanding higher education requires more than campuses, buildings and additional seats. It also depends on the availability of teachers and the support systems needed to deliver quality education.IITs, IIMs AND NITS ARE NOT IMMUNE EITHERThe shortage is not limited to smaller colleges or institutions struggling with resources. India's top engineering and management institutes have a teacher problem. Nearly four in every 10 sanctioned faculty positions at IITs were vacant as of March 2023. At IIMs, nearly one in three teaching posts remained unfilled.The National Institutes of Technology (NITs) also reported 29% faculty vacancies, while the situation was even more severe at IIITs, which had 54% vacant posts.The EAC-PM paper cites figures from a parliamentary standing committee report to show the scale of the problem as of March 2023.InstitutionSanctioned postsVacant postsVacancy rateIITs11,2924,41539%IIMs1,57048431%NITs7,4832,20629%IIITs1,31570554%IISERs735527%Source: Parliamentary standing committee figures cited in the EAC-PM paper; vacancy position as of March 2023.The situation was particularly stark at IIITs, where more than half the sanctioned posts were unfilled.IISERs, however, reported a considerably lower vacancy rate of 7%.These figures are a snapshot from March 2023, not the current vacancy position. The paper also cautions that vacancies do not measure the quality of teachers already working at these institutions. However, they demonstrate that staffing constraints extend even to leading public institutions.STUDENTS ARE GROWING FASTER THAN TEACHERSThe gap becomes clearer when the numbers are compared over the same decade.According to the paper, which draws on All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) data, India's higher education enrolment increased by more than one crore between 2014-15 and 2023-24. However, the reported teaching workforce increased by 2.59 lakh during this period.Indicator2014-152023-24GrowthStudent enrolment3.42 crore4.50 crore31.5%Teachers14.73 lakh17.32 lakh17.6%This means student numbers have increased considerably faster than teacher numbers.However, the authors make an important qualification: the enrolment and teacher figures are not a precise like-for-like comparison. Differences in estimation methods, institutional reporting coverage and classification mean the figures should be interpreted with caution.Even with that limitation, the slower growth in reported teacher numbers points to the pressure on institutional capacity.MORE SEATS ALONE WILL NOT FIX THE PROBLEMThe central concern is that expanding access without strengthening teaching capacity could leave institutions struggling to deliver the education students expect.A growing student population needs more than admission opportunities. It needs enough faculty members to conduct classes, guide research, supervise practical work and provide academic support.The authors argue that governments should assess faculty availability, staffing requirements and laboratory infrastructure before approving new institutions or courses.The broader message is that India's higher education expansion must now focus on institutional capacity, rather than measuring progress only through the number of colleges, campuses or students enrolled.The EAC-PM paper makes a larger point: expansion is constrained by people as well as buildings.- Ends