New Delhi: For students in classes XI and XII, a vacant teaching post can mean uncertainty over who will explain the next chapter, resolve doubts or guide revision before board examinations. In these crucial years, a shortage of postgraduate teachers (PGTs), who mainly teach senior secondary classes, can disrupt the subject-specific support students need for school examinations and preparation for further education, according to educators.Schools manage through guest teachers, shared subject specialists or redistribution of classes among available staff. While these arrangements can keep lessons going, educators say sustained teaching remains essential for completing syllabi and giving students enough time to practise and clear doubts.A principal of a school in northeast Delhi described how sharing teachers helps during shortages in his district. The biology teacher, the principal said, teaches at their school for three days a week and spends the remaining days at a nearby school. “That’s how we manage,” the principal said.Delhi High Court’s recent intervention has brought renewed attention to the issue after an HC bench sought the govt’s response to a PIL concerning vacant PGT posts. It asked the authorities to submit the current PGT vacancy position across govt schools. The petition alleges that appointments under the 50% promotion quota have remained stalled for around four years and that vacancies have consequently risen to 2,714. A govt official said, “We have six weeks to compile the report. We are working on it.”According to officials, regular PGT appointments are made through direct recruitment and promotion under the applicable recruitment rules. Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board conducts examinations for direct recruitment, while eligible serving teachers can be promoted after meeting prescribed requirements. The quota referred to in the petition earmarks half the posts for promotion.The concern over the lack of PGT teachers was also highlighted in August at GSKV Khajuri Khas, where students alleged that they had gone without a regular chemistry teacher for up to three academic years, potentially affecting more than 200 students across four sections of Classes XI and XII. Following TOI’s report, a teacher began taking classes three days a week, students said. “We are just hoping that he doesn’t go away. We haven’t been told yet whether this is a permanent arrangement,” a Class XII student said.“The situation is particularly serious in Classes XI and XII, where student-classroom ratios remain exceptionally high, especially in physics, chemistry and biology classes. A shortage of subject teachers and the lack of additional sections add to the difficulties students face,” said education activist and lawyer Ashok Agarwal, who has raised these concerns in a letter to the education department.A vacancy in a regular post, however, does not necessarily mean a classroom has no teacher, as guest teachers may be engaged against it. According to educators, the whole education system would collapse if guest teachers were not roped in. “The considerable time lag between a teacher retiring and a new one joining creates a perpetual gap,” said Govt School Teachers’ Association general secretary Ajay Veer Yadav. Guest teachers help cover that gap and emergency shortages. For senior secondary students, the concern remains whether such arrangements provide consistent subject teaching throughout the session.According to officials, the latest figures from earlier this year showed 15,495 guest teachers working alongside around 44,000 regular teachers, with 6,787 teaching posts, a portion of which were PGT posts, vacant across categories at that time.
