BHUBANESWAR: The state government has decided to appoint 5,634 teachers on a contract basis in state-run high schools to meet the huge shortage of teachers. The finance department has approved the proposal on Tuesday, official sources said.

Of the sanctioned posts, 494 will be for trained matric and intermediate teachers, while the rest 5,100 posts are for trained graduate teachers. The teachers, who have qualified in the Odisha Teachers' Eligibility Test (OTET), would be appointed on contract, sources in the School and Mass Education department said.

The maximum age for the post has been fixed at 32, while the age limit for teachers belonging to Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, Other Backward Castes, physically challenged and women categories will be relaxed in accordance with the norms.

Apart from the appointment of OTET qualified teachers, those who have not appeared in the OTET but are selected for the recruitment, would be allowed to clear the test in two years, an official release said.

There are around 36,137 vacant posts of teachers in primary schools across the state, the sources said. In September, the school and mass education department issued an advertisement for the recruitment of 16,000 sikshya sahayaks.

The government has engaged retired teachers in schools to fill the gap of posts of vacant teachers from September 2014 under the 'teachers on call programme'. "There is acute shortage of qualified teachers in government high schools which is affecting the quality of education in schools. Since recruitment of teachers takes time, we had decided to involve retired teachers in schools and pay them on per class basis," said a senior officer in the school and mass education department.

The number of posts to be filled up on contract basis in different districts include Angul-179, Baleswar-338, Bargarh-138, Bhadrak-524, Bolangir-97, Boudh-45, Cuttack-301, Deogarh-52, Dhenkanal-182, Gajapati-32, Ganjam-595, Jagatsinghpur-296, Jajpur-314, Jharsuguda-77, Kalahandi-93, Kandhamal-37, Kendrapara-362, Keonjhar-266, Khordha-414, Koraput-75, Malkangiri-16, Mayurbhanj-264, Nabarangpur-38, Nayagarh-212, Nuapada-50, Puri-262, Rayagada-62, Sambalpur-55, Sonepur-62 and Sundargarh-196.

Source : TOI