BHUBANESWAR: Senior Congress leader Srikant Jena on Saturday urged the state government to expedite recruitment process for teachers and fill up the backlog of the SC/ST posts at the earliest as large number of vacancies have seriously affected the functioning of secondary schools.
In a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Jena said according to the School and Mass Education department, 5,565 teachers’ posts in secondary schools are vacant. Besides, 2,798 backlog posts of SCs/STs are also pending.
Jena said in a review meeting of the department held on July 30, 2025, it was decided that vacancies of teachers in secondary schools will be filled up by August the same year. The subsequent submission made by the directorate of Secondary Education before Orissa High Court on November 25, 2025, clearly indicated that the vacant teacher posts as well as the teacher posts meant for SC/ST backlog categories still remain unfilled, affecting the functioning of government secondary schools.
“In view of the above, I urge the government to expedite the recruitment process for teachers and fill up the SC/ST teacher backlog posts at the earliest,” he said.