Bhubaneswar: Hundreds of teacher aspirants staged a protest at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar on Monday, demanding immediate recruitment against vacant teaching posts in government schools across Odisha.
The protest was organised by the All Odisha Teachers Aspirants Association, which sought the filling up of vacant posts in government primary and high schools, special educator positions and Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas across the state.
The protesters also demanded the appointment of eligible candidates against existing vacancies and regular publication of teacher recruitment notifications to ensure more opportunities for aspiring teachers. They warned that the agitation would be intensified if the government failed to address their demands.
Association president Swagat Das said teacher recruitment had remained stalled for the past two years and urged the state government to issue fresh recruitment notifications at the earliest.
“Our main demand is teacher recruitment. For the last two years, there has been no fresh teacher recruitment. The government had promised 26,000 jobs, but that recruitment process was notified by the previous government in 2023. The present government has not issued a single fresh notification for teacher recruitment,” Das said.
He claimed that around 60,000 teaching posts were vacant in primary schools and more than 15,000 posts in high schools across the state.
“We were very happy when the BJP-led government under Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi came to power, as he himself was a teacher. He had promised to recruit 45,000 teachers, with 15,000 teachers to be recruited every year. But it is sad that thousands of posts are still vacant,” Das said.
The association president said the government should fulfil its promise and take immediate steps to begin the recruitment process.
“We urge the government to issue the recruitment notification as promised. Otherwise, we will not leave Lower PMG. If our demands are not addressed, we will make the protest more impactful,” he said.
A woman teacher aspirant participating in the protest questioned the government over its handling of the recruitment issue.
“If you cannot maintain the system, manage it properly and do not have the capability to run it, then please resign from your post,” she said.
Meanwhile, Odisha NSUI president Bibhuti Bhusan Mohapatra extended support to the protesting teacher aspirants and alleged that a large number of teaching posts remained vacant in the state.
“There are more than 60,000 vacant teacher posts in the state, but the state government is doing nothing. Students who have completed Plus Two, Plus Three, postgraduate studies, B.Ed, CT, OTET and other examinations and have qualified are now sitting on the roads,” Mohapatra said.
He said the NSUI had earlier supported the All Odisha Teachers Aspirants Association and would continue to support the agitation.
“We support this dharna, and our support will continue until the government takes action,” Mohapatra said.
The protesters said they would continue their agitation at Lower PMG and intensify it if the government failed to issue fresh recruitment notifications and initiate the process of filling vacant teaching posts.
