25 September, 2025 – Chandigarh : At least 50 per cent posts of principal, 46 per cent posts of head teacher and 33 per cent posts of block primary education officer (BPEO) in government schools were lying vacant, said the Government Teachers Union in a report released on Wednesday.
In Ropar district – the home district of Education Minister Harjot Bains, nine out of 10 posts of the BPEOs were vacant.
Questioning the shortage, Sukhwinder Singh Chahal, president of the Government Teachers Union, said while the state government was sending teachers abroad for training, there was a big shortage of teachers in the government schools.
Sharing details of the report, general secretary of the union, Gurwinder Singh Saskor, said 82 posts of principal were vacant in Mansa district, 77 in Barnala, 73 in Kapurthala, 30 in Faridkot and 55 in Tarn Taran.
Similarly, 78 posts of head teacher were vacant in Tarn Taran, 32 in Nawanshahr, 39 in Kapurthala, 23 in Barnala and 83 in Ludhiana.
The union sought that the promotion of principals, head teachers and block primary education officers in blocks should be done immediately.
Education Minister Harjot Bains said with the change in the recruitment rules approved by the Cabinet, the long-pending proposal of promotions in different cadres would automatically happen in the next few days. It would help rationalise the posting of principals, head teachers and BPEOs, said the minister.
The Tribune