The Tamil Nadu School Education Department has instructed state schools to address 3,000 vacancies for the upcoming academic year by employing temporary teachers through the school management committee, as reported by The New Indian Express.
This decision comes after the department discovered 1,100 primary school teacher openings and 1,700 middle school teacher openings during the transfer of teacher counselling throughout the state. According to the report, sources indicate that oral instructions have been issued to chief educational officers in the districts on how to initiate the process of appointing temporary instructors through school management committees.
In the previous year, the department directed chief educational officers to fill 13,331 vacancies in government schools with temporary teachers. As a result, temporary Bachelor of Teaching (BT) assistants, teachers for secondary grades, and PG instructors were recruited, receiving salaries of Rs 12,000, Rs 15,000, and Rs 18,000, respectively.
Protests arose from candidates who passed the Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) in 2013 after the department requested schools to prioritise Illam Thedi Kalvi volunteers. Simultaneously, educationists emphasised that the government should ensure the proper functioning of the Teachers Recruitment Board to permanently fill these positions. They further expressed concerns that the recruitment of part-time teachers would adversely impact the quality of education in the long run, as teachers may struggle to fulfil their duties adequately due to the meagre salary.
