New Delhi: According to data tabled in the Rajya Sabha on 17 December 2025, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is operating with a significant shortage of staff across academic and non‑academic roles. Of the total 2,844 sanctioned posts across various units — including headquarters and regional institutes — only 1,219 are currently filled, leaving 1,625 vacancies unfilled.
The vacancies span Group A, B, and C categories, with some units like the Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) and the North Eastern Regional Institute of Education (NERIE) having particularly low staffing levels relative to their sanctioned strength.
As permanent hiring has lagged, NCERT has increasingly relied on contractual employees, hiring between around 655 and 760 contract staff each year over the past five years to keep operations going. Recruitment activity peaked during 2022‑23 but has slowed in recent years, contributing to the persistent shortfall.
Responding to the concern in Parliament, the Ministry of Education described recruitment as a “continuous process” and said efforts are underway to fill vacancies in accordance with existing rules, though no specific timeline was cited for clearing the backlog.
This staffing gap has implications for NCERT’s core functions — which include curriculum development, teacher training resources, educational research, and textbook preparation — raising concerns about delays in policy support and instructional material development nationwide.
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