Jaipur- Rajasthan's education landscape has long grappled with systemic hurdles ranging from staffing shortages to disparities in resource allocation. The government schools have been hindered by inadequate infrastructure, insufficient teaching staff, and bureaucratic inefficiencies.

One of the most glaring concerns has been the chronic shortage of educators, with a significant number of teaching positions remaining vacant across the state.

This shortage has not only strained the existing faculty but has also adversely impacted the quality of education imparted to students.

Additionally, disparities in resource distribution have further exacerbated inequalities, particularly in rural and underserved areas where access to quality education remains a distant dream for many.

In a proactive move aimed at addressing longstanding grievances within the education sector, the delegation of Rajasthan Teachers Association (Siyaram) convened with Education Minister Madan Dilawar at his residence.

Led by Chief Patron and Administrative President Siyaram Sharma, the delegation presented a comprehensive 24-point demand letter, outlining crucial suggestions concerning the teacher transfer policy and various pressing educational concerns.

The Mooknayak spoke to Arun Vyas, the Union's state educational cell co-secretary, who said that all the major demands and discrepancies and concerns were shared with the minister who gave a patient hearing to them.

Most significant issue is the vacant posts- there are a total of 371,186 sanctioned posts in the Education Department, of which 123,658 are currently vacant and need to be filled promptly.

He highlighted the office's negligence in processing payments for NIOS equivalent honorarium for roles such as center head, additional center head, and invigilators during the fifth and eighth board examinations.

Additionally, he mentioned the need to grant ACP/MACP notional benefits to teachers and provided suggestions to the state government in line with the transfer policy.

Arun Vyas mentioned the problems being faced in schools, such as the pending promotions for social science teachers over the past 10 years, which need to be expedited.

Explaining the various issues mentioned in the memorandum, Vyas emphasized the need to provide relief by promoting principals of secondary schools and filling all vacant senior social science teacher positions.

Vyas also highlighted the necessity of changing the staffing pattern to ensure that a senior social science teacher is appointed when there are 50 students enrolled in grades 9 and 10.

He said teachers should be allowed to voluntarily change their setup from primary to secondary education. He also stressed on resolving salary discrepancies for Prabodhak teachers, ensuring they receive all due benefits.

Additionally, he stressed the importance of issuing orders to resolve all pending MACP salary increase cases and other cases pending in the Directorate.

Vyas said that the union has advocated for raising computer education a compulsory subject from grades 9 to 12 and adjusting the pay matrix for computer instructors accordingly.

He urged freeing teachers from all non-academic work and conducting the child tracking survey offline instead of through a mobile app.

Further, he said that the union has suggested organizing literacy programs with motivational instructors and distributing free bicycles and textbooks to schools similarly to the distribution of nutritional materials.

The memorandum mentioned recommendation for permanent positions of cook-cum-helpers, Panchayat assistants, para-teachers, and contract teachers, settling outstanding payments for the evaluation of answer sheets from the fifth and eighth board exams, and resolving discrepancies in the deduction portals for GPF and state insurance.

In the memorandum, it was also requested to supply free textbooks for subjects such as Work Experience, Health and Physical Education, and Art Education for classes 1 to 8 under elementary education.

Although provisions are made in the departmental time table for these subjects, including instructions for evaluation and the sending of session marks for classes 5 and 8, textbooks for these subjects have not been supplied.

The memorandum also called for the retrospective implementation of the 3% reservation for disabled individuals in recruitment and promotion in all government jobs for the ABCD cadre from 1996 to 2016, as per the Disabled People's Rights Act of 1995.

Furthermore, it requested the implementation of a 4% reservation for disabled individuals from 2016 to 2022, in accordance with the RPWD Act.

The delegation also requested the Education minister for approval of positions for lecturers, senior teachers, physical education teachers, clerks, and assistant staff in the 3828 higher secondary schools upgraded during the budget year 2022-23.

The delegation was comprised of Jila mantri Navin Joshi, State President Veerendra Sharma, State Vice President Rajendra Parik, Banswara District Vice President Chandraprakash Yadav, Treasurer Gyanendra Goyal, along with Mahesh Verma, Deepak Khanda, Kuljeet Singh, Komal Sharma, N.P. Mishra, Ramautar Meena etc.