Parliamentary panel flags 56% vacancies at NCERT, 44% at CBSE

The Tenth Report of the Committee on Estimates for 2026-27, tabled in Lok Sabha, examines affordable quality education, budgetary and policy issues, and reviews the functioning of CBSE.The committee noted that NCERT has played a key role in shaping education policy in India, including the National Education Policy 2020. (Representational photo)A parliamentary committee has flagged major staff shortages at two key school education bodies, saying more than half the sanctioned posts at the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) are vacant, while 44 per cent of positions at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) remain unfilled.The findings are part of the Tenth Report of the Committee on Estimates for 2026-27 on budget and policy aspects of providing affordable and quality education in the country, including a review of the CBSE, which was presented in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.The panel said the vacancies need urgent attention, especially as NCERT is central to education policy and curriculum work, and CBSE conducts major national board examinations. It warned that shortages of permanent staff at CBSE could affect the safety, quality and smooth conduct of these exams.The committee noted that NCERT has played a key role in shaping education policy in India, including the National Education Policy 2020. The Education Ministry informed the panel that NCERT has developed the National Curriculum Framework for Foundational Stage and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, and has begun work on syllabi and textbooks based on these frameworks in line with NEP 2020.At the same time, the committee expressed concern over vacancies across NCERT. It said that as of October 2025, against a sanctioned strength of 2,844 posts across NCERT branches, the actual strength was 1,248, leaving 1,596 posts vacant. These included 145 academic posts, 131 school teaching posts, 916 ministerial posts and 404 ancillary posts."The Committee are of the view that having so many posts vacant in NCERT which is an apex body instrumental in rethinking and reshaping education in a manner that is national in scope, deserve urgent attention of the Ministry," the report said.It added that "sincere effort should be made by the Ministry for filling up of various vacancies", given the role of education as a transformative force and NCERT’s importance in that process.On CBSE, the committee said there was a “major shortage” of permanent staff. Out of 2,117 approved positions, 933 posts, or 44 per cent, are vacant, with the biggest gap in Group C support staff, where 595 posts are unfilled.The panel said CBSE is relying on temporary contractual staff for day-to-day work and warned that "such shortage of permanent staff may put the safety, quality, and smooth running of major national board exams at serious risk".It strongly recommended that CBSE “should stop relying on temporary contractual workers for sensitive exam works” and fill all vacant posts through fast-track recruitment in a time-bound manner.The report also noted that CBSE is a self-funded autonomous body that does not receive grant-in-aid from the ministry. It said the number of CBSE-affiliated schools rose from 3,787 in 1992-93 to 31,234 in 2024-25, as on October 8, 2025, and that the board now operates through 25 regional offices and five sub-regional offices.By 2025, the number of students had risen to over 1.70 million in Class XII and over 2.38 million in Class X, underlining the committee’s concern over staffing gaps at both NCERT and CBSE.- EndsPublished By: India Today Web Desk Published On: Aug 12, 2026 22:46 IST