BHUBANESWAR: With the state government yet to come up with a concrete decision regarding fulfilment of their demands, the agitating teacher aspirants have started a hunger strike at the Mahatma Gandhi Marg here from Saturday.
The aspiring teachers, under the banner of the All Odisha Teacher Aspirants’ Association, had launched their protest a week back seeking immediate recruitment to vacant teacher posts in government high schools, primary schools, special education schools and Odisha Adarsha Vidyalayas (OAVs).
However, members of the association said they were forced to intensify their protest as the government was yet to take any concrete decision regarding fulfilment of their just demands.
“Following our protest, a meeting was convened under the chairmanship of School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond. However, we didn’t get any assurance as to when the recruitment to the vacant teacher posts in different government schools will resume,” said a protester.
He alleged despite large-scale vacancies, the state government had not started any recruitment process for teaching posts for the last two years.
According to the association members, more than 13,000 teacher posts are vacant at the high school level while over 60,000 posts are yet to be filled at the primary level. There are also vacancies in special schools and OAVs. These vacancies are adversely affecting teaching and learning, particularly in rural schools, they said.
The protesters also questioned the government’s claim of having recruited around 26,000 teachers since the new government assumed office in June 2024. They alleged that over a year had passed since the government announced recruitment of 45,000 teachers, but fresh recruitment advertisements were yet to be issued for the posts.
On Sunday, the agitators demanded that the government immediately release a recruitment calendar for various vacant teacher posts to allow students to get adequate time to prepare for the exams.