Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Around 2000 teachers gathered in capital Bhopal on Tuesday to protest the shortage of teachers in government schools in Madhya Pradesh. They reached outside Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) and the Tribal Affairs Department and recited Hanuman Chalisa.
The candidates alleged that despite thousands of vacancies, the number of posts announced in the recruitment process is extremely inadequate. This is not only closing opportunities for the qualified candidates, but also impacting quality education at schools.
The protesters have warned that if the government does not fulfil their demands, they will call a hunger strike.
Protest demanding an increase in posts
The anger among candidates is continuously growing over the demand to increase the number of posts in the Secondary Teacher Selection Examination (Category-2) and Primary Teacher Selection Examination (Category-3) conducted by the Madhya Pradesh School Education Department and the Tribal Affairs Department.
Thousands of vacancies, only a handful of posts in recruitment
The candidates complained that according to the gazette issued by the Madhya Pradesh government, over 99k posts of secondary teachers and about 1.31 lakh posts of primary teachers were vacant as of December 27, 2024. Despite this, only 10,800 posts for secondary teachers and 13,089 posts for primary teachers are being filled in the current recruitment process.
The protesters alleged that the number of posts announced is extremely low compared to the actual need, depriving qualified candidates of opportunities.
Allegations of zero posts for EWS and OBC categories
The candidates have leveled serious allegations against the Tribal Affairs Department. They alleged that in several subjects, zero posts have been shown for the EWS and OBC categories, causing deep disappointment among the youth from these categories.
Direct impact on students' education
Teacher organizations say that the biggest loss due to the shortage of positions is being borne by the students. In many schools, a single teacher has to teach multiple subjects. This is not only affecting the quality of teaching but is also having a negative impact on examination results. The New Education Policy-2020 emphasizes improving the teacher-student ratio, but it is not possible to implement this without sufficient appointments.
Key demands of the candidates
The protesters have put forward several key demands to the state government. These include increasing the number of posts in all subjects of Teacher Recruitment Category-2 by at least 3,000 each, increasing the number of posts in Primary Teacher Recruitment (Category-3) to 25,000, and starting the second counseling session soon.
In addition, the candidates have also demanded that no new eligibility test be conducted until the teacher recruitment process for 2025 is completed with the increased number of posts.
