New Delhi, (Samajweekly) The “constant nudging” from Lt. Governor V.K. Saxena has resulted in filling up the vacancies of teachers, principals, and vice principals in Delhi government schools at an unprecedented pace during the last four months, the L-G office said on Tuesday.
“Compared to September 16, 2022, when the L-G first reviewed the status of vacancies in the Education Department, a whopping 6,112 vacant posts of teachers have been filled by the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) through regular recruitment. Another 2,200 vacancies of teachers in government schools will be filled by March this year,” reads the statement from L-G Secretariat.
According to the data provided by the DSSSB at a review meeting chaired by the L-G on Tuesday, the total vacancies of teaching staff in Delhi government schools that stood at a massive 24,003 on September 16, 2022, has come down to 17,891.
In the process, the number of guest teachers has proportionately come down by 3,094.
As of September 16, 2022, the number of guest teachers stood at 19,880, while the same has been reduced to 16,786 as of January 31, 2023.
During the review meeting, officials told the L-G that requisition for filling up 543 vacant posts of principals — 363 through direct recruitment and 180 through promotion — has been sent to the UPSC and the interviews are likely to be completed by March 2023.
Similarly, a requisition has been sent to fill up 131 posts of vice principals through direct recruitment to UPSC.
The recruitment for the posts of principals and vice-principals in Delhi government schools is made by UPSC while the recruitment of other teaching staff is made by the DSSSB on the basis of requisition sent by the Directorate of Education.
“The present grim state of affairs in the Delhi government schools, with vacancies sky rocketing, has resulted because of the fact that requisition for regular recruitment of teachers was not made during the last 7 years. Instead, the government conveniently kept filling up these posts with guest teachers who are appointed without following any due recruitment process,” said the L-G office in a statement.