Odisha to appoint 45,000 primary school teachers over next three years

The Odisha Government has announced plans to recruit 15,000 teachers annually, aiming to fill 45,000 primary school posts over the next three years in line with the requirements of the National Education Policy (NEP).

The NEP mandates recruitment of additional teachers to strengthen primary education. According to Odisha Government, there are 1,60,319 sanctioned teacher posts in 45,292 primary schools across the State.

“In line with the NEP, an additional 39,366 posts will be created. Along with this, 5,067 teacher posts will also fall vacant by December 2025. Combining all these, 44,433 posts will be filled up within the next three years — about 15,000 posts every year,” said the government in a statement following a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday (August 21, 2025.)

Emphasising the strengthening of primary education in Odisha, Mr. Majhi said the primary education plays a crucial role in fulfilling the vision of building a prosperous Odisha by 2036.

At the meeting, it was also stressed to improve school education through a single board. At present, matriculation examinations (Class X) are conducted by Board of Secondary Education (BSE) while Class XII examinations come under purview of Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE). It has been decided to merge two boards.

Odisha introduces academic accountability in schools through examinations

Similarly, the State Government announced to provide free textbooks to all students of Classes IX and X. As per the present practice, free textbooks are supplied to students from Class I to Class VIII, while in Classes IX and X, only Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students receive them. Under the new announcement, all students will be covered by free textbook supply programme.

Moreover, it has been decided to strengthen the monitoring of health of students staying in hostels through appointments of one Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) for every 300 students.

Mr. Majhi who also hails from tribal community emphasised on imparting education to tribal children in their own dialects which will help improve linguistic communication with the children and raise the quality of education. “Steps will be taken to set up a Multilingual Education Centre at Koraput,” the statement said.

Odisha Government will develop State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) along the lines of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).