New Delhi, March 2 -- The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has been functioning with more than half of its sanctioned posts lying vacant, according to official data, resulting in a situation that academicians say has led to prolonged dependence on contractual staff and affected curriculum planning and textbook development and production.

Against the sanctioned strength of 2,844 posts, only 1,219 were filed, leaving 1,625 posts vacant -- a vacancy rate of 57.1%, according to the data shared on December 17, 2025, by Union minister of state (MoS) education Jayant Chaudhary to Rajya Sabha in response to queries from Trinamool Congress MP Samirul Islam.

The bulk of vacancies were in the Group C category. Of the 1...