Chennai School Heads Given Four Days to Fill Teacher Vacancies Before Reopening
The school education department has directed government school heads in Chennai to fill all vacant teacher positions using temporary staff within a four-day deadline, with less than a week remaining before schools reopen on June 4.
Chief and district education officers issued the instructions over a two-day period to ensure that institutions have a full complement of teachers on the first day of the new term following the summer vacation.
Under the directive, school heads must source and hire temporary teachers through local school management committees (SMCs). This temporary hiring system is designed to fill vacancies created by staff transfers, retirements, or increases in student enrollment.
However, school heads have criticized the sudden timeline, arguing that the instructions should have been delivered much earlier. One principal, tasked with filling three vacancies within the four-day window, explained that finding qualified candidates and finalizing their employment is an arduous task that typically begins a month before schools reopen.
School heads noted that fixing joining dates and guaranteeing salaries can only occur after the government confirms its budget allocation. In past years, delayed budget confirmations have led to financial losses for staff. One school head recalled a previous year when teachers hired on June 1 lost nine days of pay because the government's budget allocation did not start until June 10.
The temporary positions offer varying monthly salaries based on qualifications. Hired postgraduates receive approximately ₹18,000 per month. Teachers with a bachelor's degree in teaching receive about ₹15,000, while secondary grade teachers for elementary schools are paid around ₹12,000.
Chennai Chief Education Officer M Kabir stated that the recruitment is a routine, annual process that school heads are expected to manage. Kabir noted that vacancies rarely increase significantly and added that temporary teachers hired through the SMCs during the previous academic year are permitted to continue teaching this year.
