Agartala, October 6: The Tripura High Court has sought details from the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) on teacher vacancies in schools under its jurisdiction, including the number of single-teacher High Schools and Higher Secondary Schools.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M S Ramachandra Rao and Justice S Datta Purkayastha passed the direction while hearing a suo motu public interest litigation, WP(C)(PIL) No. 09 of 2026, Court on its own motion vs Union of India and Others.
The Bench impleaded the TTAADC, through its Chief Executive Officer, as a respondent and directed it to file a counter affidavit addressing the issues raised before the court.
The council has been asked to submit detailed data on teacher vacancies in tribal schools, explain the engagement of contractual teachers in place of regular appointments and provide specific details on the number of single-teacher schools under its jurisdiction.
The court's intervention comes against the backdrop of a significant shortage of teachers in government schools across the state.
According to figures placed before the court by the state government, 15,449 teacher posts fell vacant between 2018-19 and 2023-24 due to retirements and terminations. During the same period, only 6,659 appointments were made, leaving a backlog of nearly 9,000 vacancies.
The Bench also expressed concern over the pace of recruitment. It noted that the Teachers' Recruitment Board, Tripura (TRBT), had advertised only 700 Graduate Teacher posts in September 2025 and had not advertised any such posts in 2026 so far.
The court urged the state government and the TRBT to take urgent steps to fill the vacant posts, observing that teacher shortages have a direct bearing on the quality of education in government schools.
The Bench also examined the status of basic school infrastructure based on UDISE 2025-26 data. It noted that 84 per cent of schools had electricity connections, while drinking water was available in 4,048 of 4,144 schools. Toilet facilities were available in 90 per cent of schools for girls and 92 per cent for boys.
The court directed the authorities to address the infrastructure gaps and work towards ensuring complete coverage.
The matter has been listed for November 16, when the TTAADC's counter affidavit and data will be examined.
