The petition, filed by farmer Lok Singh from Dindori, states that despite the Right to Education (RTE) Act being in force for over 15 years, the government has failed to fill teaching vacancies in several schools. According to the petition, 102 government schools are functioning without any teachers, while 499 schools operate with insufficient teaching staff.
Representing the petitioner, Advocate Rahul Deshmukh told the bench that the shortage threatens students’ academic future. The court’s amicus curiae requested that the issue be examined beyond Dindori, prompting the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf to demand state-wide data on total government schools and vacant teaching positions.
The situation in Jabalpur is particularly critical. Senior Advocate Gulati informed the court that 54 schools in the district are at risk of closure due to inadequate staffing. He urged the court to direct the government to provide a comprehensive list of vacant posts so that remedial action could be taken.
Recent data shows a decline in student enrolment across the state. In the 2024–25 and 2025–26 sessions, approximately 21,193 secondary schools had fewer than 20 students, while 8,533 schools functioned with only one teacher. The shortage extends to physical education teachers, with only 700 available for nearly 92,000 schools. According to the UDISE report, 20 schools have no teacher, 4,128 have only one teacher, and 5,179 have fewer than 10 students. Compared to the previous year, 3.44 lakh fewer students enrolled in government schools, indicating a persistent decline.
The overall vacancy is estimated at over 70,000 teaching positions statewide. The Madhya Pradesh Employees Selection Board (MPESB) has recently initiated recruitment for 13,089 primary teachers and 10,758 secondary teachers, including positions for Jabalpur district.
High dropout rates have been reported in multiple districts due to this shortage, including Dhar (32,000), Jhabua and Khargone (24,000 each), Chhatarpur (23,000), Shivpuri (22,000), Barwani (21,000), Singrauli and Damoh (over 17,000 each), and Jabalpur (over 6,000).
The court has now directed the state government to respond with a detailed affidavit, after which it will consider further measures to address the crisis.
