New Delhi: The report of findings of a parliamentary panel report have revealed that at present more than half of the sanctioned posts at the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) are vacant, while 44% posts at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are also lying vacant.As per the Tenth Report (Eighteenth Lok Sabha) of the Committee on Estimates (2026-27) on ‘Budget and Policy Aspects for Providing Affordable and Quality Education in the Country including Review of Central Board of Secondary Education’, which was presented to the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (August 12), of the 2,844 sanctioned posts at the NCERT, 1,596 were vacant, reported Press Trust of India.Similarly, the CBSE has 933 vacancies against 2,117 sanctioned posts, highlighting the lack of staff at the two important institutions.The panel said that CBSE’s reliance on temporary and contractual workers could put the safety, quality and smooth conduct of national board examinations at risk, reported Business Standard.The report also revealed a sharp decline in the number of schools and students as education levels rise.As against 911,032 primary schools, there are only 90,866 higher-secondary schools and enrolment falls from 61.85 million students in primary classes to 16.42 million at the higher-secondary level.The panel also highlighted the fact that the combined expenditure by the Union government and states remains at 4.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), falling shorter of the 6% target under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.The report added that almost 73% of students drop out before completing higher secondary education and called for more primary and secondary schools to be upgraded to the higher-secondary level.The report further revealed that only 58.6% of government schools have an internet connection and the higher-secondary gross enrolment ratio was just 38.1% in Bihar, 45% in Madhya Pradesh, 39.7% in Meghalaya and 39.8% in Nagaland.