The Department of School Education is planning to recruit retired school teachers on contract to tide over the acute shortage of teachers in government schools in the Union Territory.
“We have just forwarded a file to the government for approval in this regard,” E Vallavan, Director of School Education, told Express. This would be an interim arrangement till the vacant posts were filled up through regular recruitments, he added.
A total of 263 teaching posts were lying vacant in government schools across the four regions of the UT, including 213 posts of Trained Graduate Teachers (TGT) and 50 posts of lecturers, department sources said.
Further, the upgradation of nine high schools into higher secondary schools required the creation of additional job roles and their recruitment.
These posts could not be filled up on time as the recruitment rules had to be amended as per the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission.
Also the posts have been put into Group B, which meant that they would have to go to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for recruitment. The Puducherry government could fill up only Group C and Group D posts. Though the process had been initiated, the movement of files between Puducherry and New Delhi and clarifications sought on various issues was delaying the process.
The clearance of Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) required for recruitment to these posts was also adding to the delay.
At present, 80 per cent of the lecturers’ posts were filled up through promotions while the rest were filled up through direct recruitment.
Similarly, 60 per cent of the TGT posts were filled through promotions and the rest through recruitments.
Former education minister and Congress MLA K Lakshminarayanan pointed out that the posts of vice principals and principals were also vacant in some schools. As a result, each principal was given charge of three schools, he added. The fact that students were facing difficulties was evident considering that students of four government schools went on a strike on Monday.
Even the parents resorted to a protest at Thiruvalluvar Government Girls Higher Secondary School on Monday. Already, two years passed since the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission came into effect. The government should have acted to ensure the recruitment of teachers on time, said Lakshminarayanan.
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