Around 20K posts of teachers vacant in State: RTI query

PUNE: According to a recent RTI query, around 20,000 posts sanctioned for teachers and headmasters in the State are vacant.

While the State Government long ago launched the Pavitra Portal to smoothen the process of recruitment of teachers. However, months later, the appointments have still not been made. This has left the teachers, well-qualified and having cleared all the aptitude tests, still waiting for the jobs that they deserve.

The association recently submitted letters to the Education Department, Pune Zilla Parishad (ZP) and the State Education Department, demanding to upload details of 100 per cent of the vacancies available at the ZP schools.

Speaking to Sakal Times, State Education Commissioner Vishal Solanki said that the process of recruitment has already begun and the first round will be completed by the end of February. “We are presently updating the rosters of the schools and educational institutions with the help of the local governing bodies. In the next couple of weeks, after we have approved their advertisements for recruitment, we will begin the process in full swing,” he stated.

While the process of adaptation of the extra teachers in the system will continue through this week, after that, the rest of the vacancies will be announced by the government.

The DTEd, BEd Students’ Association, Maharashtra State, stated that this is a huge gap when around 2 lakh teachers across the State are waiting for recruitment. 

Founder President of the association Santosh Magar, said, “Although the education commissioner has estimated that around 20,000 vacancies might be opened up, a highly placed official in the Education Department has stated that there is a possibility that the number might be around 10,000.”

Magar said, “Today, we made a request for extension of the deadline of Pavitra Portal so that all the applications get an equal chance during recruitment, because of which the date has been extended to January 19.”

Also, a GR recently released by the government stated, “No matter what subject the candidate had opted for while clearing the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET), the recruitment process will consider the subject that the teacher has taken a degree in.”