9,600 govt teachers' hiring soon

The Arvind Kejriwal government’s big plans for improving the education quality in government schools have gathered momentum with nearly 9,600 new teachers likely to be recruited by month end.

All the new teachers will be regular employees under the Delhi government, said an official. “The proposal has been cleared by the Administrative Reforms Department and the file has been sent to finance for clearance,” said a functionary in the office of Chief Secretary K K Sharma.

Kejriwal has maintained: “My topmost priority is to provide quality education.”
The recruitment of 9,600 teachers will help the government come close to the target of maintaining the ideal 1:40 teacher student ration in its schools.

After the Budget presentation, the Chief Minister had highlighted that the purpose of doubling the number education budget was to radically improve government schools.
“The  government wants to hire a total of 20,000 regular teachers in this financial year,” said an Education Department official.

Apart from hiring 9,600 teachers, the Delhi government also proposed putting up CCTV cameras in all classrooms of government schools.

Education Minister Manish Sisodia, who currently is in Brazil to attend a conference on skill development, earlier said the AAP government was committed to providing facilities in government schools and ensuring dignity to teachers.

Education Department officials said apart from hiring new applicants, the cabinet is also considering a proposal to regularise deserving guest teachers.
The new teachers would be posted in some of the 140 double-shift schools that the government plans to run from 70 buildings under construction.

The construction work has started for 45 schools and he plans to install CCTV cameras in the existing schools. The cameras  would help curb teachers’ absenteeism as well as deter violent students from attacking teachers, said an official.

The recruitment of the 9,600 teachers is also a part of the government’s objective to make Delhi a fully literate state within the next few years. Currently, there are classrooms where one teacher is teaching 80-100 students in one sitting.