Nagpur: Maharashtra govt has appointed 147 retired teachers on a temporary contractual basis on a monthly honorarium of Rs20,000 each in Chandrapur Zilla Parishad schools to prevent student learning losses while vacancies awaited regular recruitment through the Pavitra portal, the state legislative assembly was informed on Friday.School education minister Dadadji Bhuse said the appointments were in line with the department’s standing policy of placing retired teachers on a stop-gap basis until permanent posts could be filled through transparent recruitment.Chandrapur MLA Kishore Jorgewar had asked whether eligible DEd and BEd qualified unemployed youth were being bypassed in favour of retired teachers drawing Rs20,000 per month, whether this caused resentment among teacher unions and unemployed graduates, and whether the govt would reconsider the appointments.Bhuse said representations from elected representatives and teacher unions demanding the appointment of DEd and BEd graduates instead were received and noted. He maintained the move was a temporary arrangement to prevent interruption to students’ education and that it would be wound up once regular teachers were appointed.The minister said approximately 9,214 candidates based on the 2017 examination and about 23,871 candidates based on the 2022 examination were recommended for appointment through the Pavitra portal. He added that the Teacher Aptitude and Intelligence Test 2025 was conducted to ensure a continuing pipeline of eligible candidates for regular teacher recruitment across the state.
