Over 7 lakh teaching posts under Sarva Shikhsa Abhiyan vacant

NEW DELHI: Over seven lakh teaching posts sanctioned under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan are vacant across the country, the Human Resource Development ministry today said.

"Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, a total of 19.82 lakh teacher posts have been sanctioned till 2012-13 since inception, against which 12.48 lakh teachers have been recruited by states/UTs, leaving 7.34 lakh vacancies," Minister of state in the HRD ministry Shashi Tharoor said.

"In addition, the states/UTs have reported 5,65,905 vacancies up to March 2012 against teacher posts borne on the state budget," he said in response to a question in Rajya Sabha.