1932 positions lying vacant in Education Deptt Kashmir

Srinagar: As many as 1932 positions of teaching staff and zonal level officers are lying vacant in the School Education department across Kashmir for the past many years.

The move has created adhocism in the department with officers being assigned charges of more than one office.

As per the official figures produced by the Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK), around 1549 positions of lecturers are lying vacant in Kashmir division besides 22 positions of Zonal Educational Officers (ZEO) and 32 positions of Zonal Education Planning Officers (ZEPO).

As already reported by Greater Kashmir, around 243 posts of Higher Secondary School principals are also lying vacant in the School Education Department.

An official said that the vacancies of key positions had led to adhocism in the department, affecting the normal academic and administrative works in schools and offices at zonal and district level.

“This adhocism mars the functioning of the department at the ground level. One person is assigned more than one job due to which they get overburdened and can’t do justice with their job,” the official said.

The official figures reveal that around 329 positions of headmasters were lying vacant in Kashmir division which had left high schools headless for a long period.

“The vacant posts of headmasters are managed by other equivalent rank officials,” the official said.

An official said the vacancies increased in the wake of upgradation of schools in 2018-19.

The J&K government in 2019 ordered upgradation of 90 high schools and dozens of middle schools to the level of higher secondary schools and high schools.

Besides, two high schools were also regularised which were earlier termed as hanging schools because of non-creation of posts after the upgradation of these schools to the higher secondary level.

The government had also created 2322 teaching and non-teaching posts including that of principals at higher secondary school level.

“But all the newly-created positions in high and higher secondary schools were not filled proportionally, which led to crisis,” the official said.

He said most of the vacant slots had been kept available for reserved category employees of the department.

“We have the Supreme Court orders to keep some positions reserved for the reserved category employees,” the official said.

Administrative Secretary School Education Department, B K Singh said that the department had already started an exercise to identify all the vacant positions and that all positions would be filled in April.

“The department is aware about the vacant positions and we have already started an exercise to fill these positions,” he said.