Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Teachers’ Day celebrations in Madhya Pradesh presented a sharp contrast on Saturday. While the state government praised teachers and promised to strengthen the education system, teacher recruitment aspirants continued their hunger strike at Neelam Park in Bhopal for the 15th consecutive day.
Former Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh joined the protesting candidates at the park in the Jahangirabad area and extended his support to their demands. He had visited the protesters earlier as well and described their demands as justified.
The protest gained political attention a day after some aspirants allegedly stopped the convoy of Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav during Janmashtami celebrations.
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Candidates await counselling
Candidates from teacher categories 1, 2 and 3 have been demanding that the government fill the remaining advertised vacancies and begin the pending counselling process.
Category-1 candidates who cleared the 2023 selection examination claimed that 8,720 higher secondary teacher posts had been sanctioned and advertised. However, appointments were made against only 2,901 posts during the first round of counselling.
They alleged that counselling for the remaining 5,819 posts had not been conducted despite their three-year struggle.
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CM praises government teachers
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, in his Teachers’ Day message, praised government schoolteachers for their dedication and contribution to students’ success.
He said the future of the country was shaped in classrooms and teachers played the most important role in that process. He also highlighted that more than half the students appearing on the Madhya Pradesh Board’s merit lists came from government schools.
The Chief Minister said the government was taking steps to improve educational quality and provide teachers with respect and better opportunities. He also announced that the Teacher Eligibility Test would be conducted offline.
However, the protesting candidates said the government’s promises would remain incomplete unless the pending recruitment process was completed and vacant teaching posts were filled.
