Recruitment protests: Teachers join forest guards, cops crack down

Updated: Aug 7th, 2024


The ongoing recruitment-related agitation by forest guard applicants has now spread to include unemployed teachers. However, the police have intensified their stance, detaining the protesters within 10 minutes of their arrival at the Gandhinagar Secretariat.

Recently, the government announced that it would hire 24,700 newly minted teachers across the state, including 7,500 for classes 9–12. The protesters — candidates who have qualified in the TET/TAT (Teachers’ Aptitude Test/Teachers’ Aptitude Test) — have demanded that 15,000 positions be opened up for these higher classes. 

The protesting teachers say that even 7,500 new recruits will leave a gaping hole in classes 9–12 of Gujarat’s government and grant-in-aid schools. They point to an advertisement issued by the government, which calls for applications to fill 1,200 vacancies for principal, and 2,200 “experienced” teachers looking to switch jobs. Given that these 3,400 positions will be filled from the existing pool, and that a host of elderly teachers are set to retire on Oct 31, they feel that the current gap in teaching positions is only set to widen further.

“The vacancies allotted to classes 9–12 are fewer than the number of subjects available across the schools in Gujarat. While 7,500 may seem like a lot, given the number of subjects, this comes out to less than 40 vacancies per subject,” Shaktidan Gadhvi, who has passed the TET/TAT, told Gujarat Samachar Digital. He estimates that Gujarat’s schools need closer to 15,000 new recruits. 

“The government should do a ground-level check, and the chief minister and education minister should discuss the issue and double the number of jobs in the higher classes. We are tired of making these frequent trips to Gandhinagar to plead our case,” he added.

Also read:

Protesting forest dept recruitment candidates detained by Gandhinagar police

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