Applications for teachers’ positions exceed six times

The school education department has received more than six times the number of applications for teaching jobs as opposed to the advertised vacancies, in its first major recruitment drive since irregularities in the Teacher’s Eligibility Test (TET) in 2018-19 came to light in 2021.

The drive began on February 2 with 21,678 vacancies in zilla parishad, local self-government bodies, and private management aided schools from Classes 1 to 12. Till Tuesday evening, 1,36,795 candidates locked their school preferences on the department’s Pavitra portal, data has shown.

After the TET scam, the state government meticulously verified all certificates and subsequently conducted the Teacher Aptitude Intelligence Test (TAIT) 2022 in online mode. Of the 2,39,730 candidates who registered for TAIT, 2,16,443 cleared the examination. For the advertised vacancies, 1,41,623 candidates generated preferences, 1,39,831 filled their preferences, and 1,36,795 locked their preferences.

“The final count of locked preferences may increase as candidates are allowed to complete their process by Wednesday evening,” an official from the education department said.

Candidates are excited as they finally got the opportunity after five years.

Suresh Salave, joint secretary, Spardha Pariksha Samanvay Samiti, said, “The government has released a timetable for the application. Now, we are urging the government to expedite the selection and appointment of teachers, ensuring it concludes before the declaration of the election code of conduct.”

Analysing statistics, Sushil Shejule, chairperson of We Teachers, said, “Most candidates from private schools have also applied for government positions. Viewing this as an opportunity, the government should expedite the process to enhance the academic quality of government schools after appointments. This improvement will enable government schools to compete effectively with private aided schools, potentially increasing admissions in the coming academic years.”

Despite the tremendous response, school managements are likely to face challenges during appointments.

Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson for the Maharashtra School Principals Association, said, “One of the issues is the difficulty in finding candidates with expertise in specific subjects. Also, some candidates cannot attend interviews due to the school’s distance from their respective districts.”