Gandhinagar/Ahmedabad, 08 July - The State of Gujarat will see the induction of 25,000 new teachers in an ambitious recruitment drive announced by Minister of State for Education Praful Panseria. The Minister, speaking on education policy, reassured the public that no government schools in the state would be shut down, irrespective of the number of students.
Panseria shared the government's commitment to education with reporters on Saturday, revealing plans to construct 16,000 new classrooms in state government schools. In a significant move to ensure accessibility to education, the minister pledged to arrange transportation for students needing to commute between villages for their studies.
Responding to queries on the closure of government schools in the state, Panseria affirmed, "The government has not taken any steps to close government schools. Not a single government school will be closed. Even for villages where student numbers might be as low as 8 to 10, and if they have to commute to the nearest village, which could be 5 to 10 kilometers away, the government is prepared to make arrangements for vehicles."
The Teachers Eligibility Test, a prerequisite for the appointment of primary school teachers for classes 1 to 5, was recently conducted by the Gujarat State Examination Board.
Gujarat currently has 28,212 vacant posts for teachers and Acharyas across government and granted primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools. With 1028 primary schools, 786 government high schools, and 1775 granted high schools operating without teachers, the state is faced with a substantial shortage of teaching staff. The shortage extends to 16,318 vacancies in state government primary schools and 774 in granted primary schools. Furthermore, the state faces a deficit of 19,128 classrooms in government primary schools, though the government is addressing this by undertaking the construction of 11,000 rooms.
With 38,550 teachers set to retire by the 2027-28 academic year, including 25,560 primary school teachers (classes 1 to 5), 2292 (classes 6 to 8), and 10,698 (classes 9 to 12), this recruitment drive is a timely initiative to ensure continuity and improvement in Gujarat's education system.
