‘Why delay hiring primary teachers for BMC schools?’

A delegation from Maharashtra Students’ Union in front of the BMC chief’s office last week

The delay in issuing appointment letters to 150 probationary assistant teacher candidates for the primary section of BMC schools, despite BMC officials claiming that they got the state government's approval for the same, has irked the Maharashtra Students' Union (MASU).

mid-day had on August 23 highlighted the plight of 252 candidates - 150 for the primary section and 102 for the secondary section - who were rejected by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation despite clearing the Maharashtra Teacher Aptitude and Intelligence Test (MahaTAIT) on the grounds that their primary education was in vernacular language instead of English.

‘Some quit their jobs'

Siddharth Ingle, founder-president of MASU who had met Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and senior BMC officials including commissioner I S Chahal last week, said, "Senior BMC officials told us that they have already got sanction from the state government to hire 150 candidates as probationary assistant teacher in primary schools run by BMC. But these 150 candidates are still awaiting their formal appointment letters."

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He added that had the candidates been hired in 2019, when they were called to Mumbai for document verification, they would have completed the mandatory three-year probation period and would have been eligible for permanent teacher posts.

"Many of these graduate and postgraduate candidates with DEd and BEd degrees are from Amravati, Latur, Beed, Solapur and other rural parts of Maharashtra and were looking forward to working at BMC schools. Some of them even quit their jobs when they were called to Mumbai for document verification."

Rahul More (name changed), a 33-year-old from Beed, is a postgraduate with a DEd degree, and has been jobless since 2019. More told mid-day, "I had been working for a private school in Beed after completing my DEd in 2012. I started with a salary of Rs 5,000 and was getting Rs 21,000 in 2019 when I quit the job after my name was on the list of candidates. However, BMC rejected me for not having done my primary education from an English medium school. Today I have no job."

Chandrakant Patil (name changed), a 37-year-old from Amravati, said, "I was passionate about teaching and decided to be a school teacher. But unfortunately things did not materialise, and I took up a job as a project coordinator for a private firm. In 2019, I was among the candidates who scored well in MahaTAIT and was sure of getting a job in BMC school. I was called for document verification in Mumbai in 2019, and since then I am without a job."

When asked, both More and Patil said they would still take up the job at BMC schools where their salary for the three years of probation would be R6,000-R8,000. "We are keen to get a government job," they said.

Candidates

Ingle added, "It is surprising that of the 252 candidates eligible for teaching jobs in BMC-run schools, BMC had information of only 150 candidates for teaching primary sections, but did not have any clue about the remaining 102 candidates, who were to be hired for the secondary section."

Refuting BMC's claim that the officials did not have any data on these candidates, Ingle said that MASU is in possession of a letter written by former state education commissioner Vishal Solanki dated December 13, 2019, addressed to Ashitosh Salil, joint commissioner (education) BMC, and another letter dated January 20, 2021 addressed to the state additional chief secretary (education) that refer to filling the vacant posts in BMC schools and mention the eligible 252 candidates.

"As directed by a senior BMC official, we have sent a letter to Joint Municipal Commissioner (Education) Ajit Kumbhar raising concerns about the fate of the remaining 102 candidates. BMC officials have now assured us to look into the matter and get the state government's approval," Ingle concluded.