More than 3 lakh qualified candidates waiting for teacher jobs in Telangana: TSUTF

Hyderabad: More than 22,000 teacher positions remain unfilled in Telangana State, the Upadhyaya Sanghala Porata Committee (USPC) pointed out in a statement.

There are no headmasters in 45% of the 4250 high schools. Every high school has an average of two topic teaching positions open. There are also 9000 secondary grade (primary school) teaching positions available the statement read.

Speaking to News Meter, General Secretary of Telangana State United Teachers Federation (TSUTF) Chava Ravi said, "The government started parallel English medium classes in primary and upper primary schools last academic year, but no teachers have been appointed."

"Because of a teacher shortage, existing teachers are carrying a heavy workload. Furthermore, pupils are deprived of high-quality education. A growing number of children are transferring to private institutions. As a result, enrolment at government schools is gradually dropping," he noted.

Teachers at Telangana's government schools urged earlier this year that the state fill teaching shortages and provide basic amenities in all schools before the start of the academic year.

Thousands of principals and school assistant positions are said to have been vacant for years, subject teachers and students are suffering greatly, transfers that were supposed to be completed before summer have been halted due to a court stay, and the transfer dispute has not been resolved even after the academic year has begun.

As there is little hope of resolving the issue of teacher transfers before the High Court, the Upadhyaya Sanghala Porata Committee has asked the state government to begin the process of promotions and appointments.

"More than 3 lakh qualified candidates are waiting to be hired as teachers. The Telangana State United Teachers Federation (TSUTF) demands that the government issue a notification for teacher recruitment as soon as possible," Chava Ravi remarked.

T Lingareddy, U Pochaiah, D Saidulu, Shaukat Ali, Pitla Rajaiah, Kommu Ramesh, N Yadagiri, S Harikrishna, V Srinu Nayak, K Bhikshapati, Y Vijayakumar, B Kondaiah, S Mahesh, Jadi Rajanna, Med Charan Das, Jadav Venkatarao, D Rajanarsu, and others demanded the government to promote teachers and initiate the recruitment process.

The USPC demanded that in the interest of the pupils, interim promotions and appointments of new instructors should be made in the ensuing vacancies, subject to the ultimate judgment of the High Court.