Maharashtra: 6000 School Teachers’ Posts Vacant, Appointments To Soon Resume

Pune, December 9, 2020: After a prolonged wait, the aspiring teachers can heave a sigh of relief, as the teacher recruitment process is likely to resume in the state after a hiatus of one and a half years. The Maharashtra government is mulling upon lifting the ban on the teacher recruitment process and opening vacancies for nearly six thousand posts.

In February 2019, the Maharashtra government had started recruitment procedures for 12,000 teaching posts through the online portal– Pavitra website. However, it was interrupted due to the implementation of the code of conduct for the Lok Sabha Election and later for State Assembly Elections in 2019. About 6,000 candidates were selected in August 2019, but the recruitments for the rest of the 6,000 posts were pending. The process got further delayed because of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) induced lockdown, burdening the state’s economy. Therefore, the state government had decided to ban recruitment in May 2020. There were demands from different organisations and candidates to allow the teacher recruitment process under special circumstances.

In this regard, the Maharashtra school education minister Varsha Gaikwad had recently met deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and discussed starting appointment of teaching staff. Following this, Pawar has decided to remove the ban on the teachers recruitment process and fill up the remaining 6,000 posts.

Education commissioner Vishal Solanki stated that the teacher recruitment process will soon resume. “We have sought clarification on the reservation of socially and economically backward people for recruitment from the state government. Those posts will be decided after receiving instructions from the state government. However, the appointments for the remaining posts will be carried out. Some of the posts will be filled by interview, while some posts will be filled without an interview,” he said.

President of D.Ed, B.Ed Students’ Association Sunil Magar said, “for the past several months, the organisation has been trying to get special permission for teacher recruitment. Many appeals were made for the same. About 1.60 lakh candidates are awaitingthe commencement of the teacher recruitments. As there are no teachers in many schools, students are deprived of education and the number of students is also declining. Against this background, it is important to get permission for teacher recruitment. We welcome the decision to begin appointments.”