SBI Research: 34% Teaching Posts Vacant in Higher Education

NEW DELHI: India's higher education system has grown fast over the past decade, but SBI Research warns that empty teaching posts and flat funding could undo much of that progress. Its report, released on September 30, is the most detailed audit of Indian higher education in recent years. Enrolment passed 4.5 crore in FY24 with near gender parity, yet 34 per cent of sanctioned teaching posts in centrally funded institutions are vacant.

Using official data, the report tracks the decade's growth. Universities rose from 723 in FY14 to 1,289 in FY24, and colleges from 36,634 to 48,246. Students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes made up about 62 per cent of enrolment. Women outnumbered men in undergraduate science, and their share of PhD students was nearly equal to men's.

The vacancies

The teaching workforce grew from 13.7 lakh in FY14 to 17.3 lakh in FY24, and 45 per cent are women. But citing parliamentary data, SBI Research says 14,042 of 41,351 sanctioned teaching posts in central universities and centrally funded institutions, or 34 per cent, are vacant.

The gaps are biggest at the top: 54 per cent of professor posts are empty. By institution, vacancies stand at 54 per cent in IIITs, 39 per cent in IITs, 33 per cent in central universities, 31 per cent in IIMs and 29 per cent in NITs. Only the IISERs, at 7 per cent, are in reasonable shape.

Demand is rising

The shortage comes as demand peaks. IIM placements rose to about 13,700 in FY24 from 7,500 in FY16. IIT placements went from about 9,500 to roughly 17,500, and NIT placements from 18,000 to about 29,000, with 93 per cent of students placed. Median salaries across IIMs, IITs and NITs more than doubled between FY16 and FY24, passing Rs 40 lakh at IIMs. SBI Research says bigger classes and heavier workloads for the remaining faculty could wear down the quality that draws students to these institutions.

Funding stuck near 1 per cent

Money is the other problem. Higher education's share of total government spending has hovered around 1 per cent for two decades and has fallen from 1.6 per cent in FY18. The report proposes raising it to 1.5 per cent.

The squeeze shows in regional gaps. Pupil-teacher ratios range from about 14 in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Goa to 33 in Uttar Pradesh, 48 in Jharkhand and 57 in Bihar. The parliamentary standing committee on education cites 15:1 as the ideal.

Proposed fixes

The report suggests making the National Testing Agency a statutory body and examining a constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to free and fair educational opportunity. It also calls for closer industry-academia links, more vocational training and steps to narrow regional differences in student-teacher ratios.

All of this depends on public spending, which the analysis ties directly to infrastructure, research and further expansion. Its underlying question for policymakers is whether India can count on its demographic dividend while its classrooms stay understaffed and underfunded.