State to re-hire 2,261 lecturers

Vikas Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 16

With government schools facing staff crunch, the school education department has decided to rehire 2,261 subject teachers and lecturers on academic arrangement across the state.

As many as 1,711 lecturers, including 959 for the Kashmir division and 752 for the Jammu division in both summer and winter zones, will be re-hired temporarily on academic arrangement basis. These lecturers have already rendered their services up to June 30, 2019.

Similarly, 550 subject-specific teachers are being re-hired for 110 upgraded government high schools purely on a contract basis under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan in J&K.

Sources said the State Administrative Council had given a green signal to the department hiring the services of teachers in state-run schools after which the department had issued an order.

They added that another reason behind re-hiring was the serious concerns expressed by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development Ministry over the sorry state of affairs in the government schools despite its many reminders to the department.

According to available data, around 8.28 per cent primary and 11.08 per cent upper primary schools are having an adverse pupil-teacher ratio owing to non-availability of subject teachers. Further, 26 per cent upper primary schools have no subject teachers available.

As far as the vacant posts of subject teachers in government high schools is concerned, it is around 20.45 per cent. Nearly 17 per cent posts of headmaster too are vacant in these schools.

Another cause for concern in government schools is zero enrolment due to the non-availability of teachers. As many as 562 primary schools and 154 upper primary schools in the state have zero enrolment.

As a result, the net enrolment ratio at the elementary level has also decreased from 63.01 per cent in 2016-17 to 61.70 per cent in 2017-18.