Gujarat govt withdraws decision to rehire retired teachers amid statewide protests

Facing mounting pressure from aspiring teaching candidates and education bodies, the Gujarat Education Department has reversed its earlier decision to reappoint retired teachers in government and grant-in-aid schools. The move had sparked widespread protests across the state under the demand of giving opportunities to educated youth, and not retired teachers.

Thousands of candidates who have cleared the TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) and TAT (Teacher's Aptitude Test) exams are struggling to find teaching jobs in Gujarat. Despite a shortage of over 40,000 teachers in the state’s government schools, the department had recently issued a directive proposing the recruitment of retired teachers if vacancies remained after hiring ‘Gyan Sahayaks’.

The proposal drew sharp criticism from job-seeking candidates and school management committees, who argued that it overlooked qualified young educators in favour of those who had already completed their service.

Following the backlash, education department was forced to issue a clarification and roll back the decision. In a new circular, the department stated that retired teachers would now only be considered as a last-resort, stop-gap measure only if positions remain vacant after the appointment of ‘Gyan Sahayaks’.