State plans to hire retired teachers to run schools with low enrolments

As many as 14,985 schools, facing closure on account of low enrolments, have got a new lease of life after the state government decided to hire retired teachers to run these institutions.

The state had in September had proposed to shut these schools with less than 20 students each, inviting criticism from several quarters.

Suraj Mandhare, education commissioner, said, “In many villages, zilla parishad has only one school. If that is closed, the students will have no access to education. The challenge is to run these schools and the best way to do it is to appoint retired teachers there.”

A proposal in this regard has been submitted to the minister last week, he said. “Once it is approved, applications will be called from interested candidates through an advertisement.”

Meanwhile, the process of adjusting surplus teachers is going on, Mandhare said. “In this process, the number of extra teachers will be calculated in proportion to the number of students. There is a possibility of closure of schools with fewer students. Therefore, instead of shutting them, a proposal has been made by the school education department to appoint retired teachers in order to keep these schools afloat.”

After the adjustment is completed, the decision can be implemented from the next academic year, he added.

According to officials, these schools presently have full-time teachers.

The proposal to shut schools with low enrolment was first put forward during the BJP-Shiv Sena rule in 2017, a teacher, on condition of anonymity, said.

“The government dropped the idea following opposition from all sections of society. However, after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government came to power, it formulated a plan in secret. In fact, this was implemented where there was no protest against the decision. Some schools were closed accordingly,” the teacher, who is from a village listed with fewer students, said.

The teacher further said it was after Mandhare took over as the education commissioner that he adopted a policy of not shutting such schools in rural areas.

Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson of the Maharashtra Principal Association, said, “If the government plans to appoint retired teachers, it’s a welcome step. But this need not be at the expense of the appointment of new eligible teachers.”

Bhausabheb Chaskar, a teacher activist, questioned the very idea of hiring retired teachers.

“If the department wishes to appoint a retired teacher, why did the department allow them to retire in the first place? There is no logic behind this decision. Education is the right of every student,” he said.