Ahmedabad, Sep 21 (IANS): Gujarat Congress on Saturday urged Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to increase the number of vacancies for Secondary and Higher Secondary Teaching Assistants and extend the age limit for TET-1 and TET-2 qualified candidates.

Congress Spokesperson Manish Doshi said that the government’s announcement of 7,500 vacancies is insufficient, as over 38,000 candidates have already passed the TET exams in Gujarat, many of whom are nearing the upper age limit.

He said that the delay in recruitment has put thousands of eligible candidates at risk of missing their opportunity.

“If 15,000 vacancies are announced instead of the current 7,500, it would ensure justice for most qualified candidates. There must be simultaneous recruitment announcements for government and grant-in-aid schools to help alleviate the teacher shortage in Gujarat’s schools,” he said.

He said that the long-standing vacancies in government and grant-in-aid schools have damaged the state’s education system.

“Despite repeated appeals, the Education Department has not taken sufficient action, leading to severe teacher shortages. The government must expand the recruitment drive and significantly relax the age limit since the hiring process has been delayed by four to five years,” he said.

He said that the current situation if left unaddressed, could force candidates to retake exams, as the validity of the 2023 TET examination is limited.

“In Gujarat, 2.75 lakh candidates have passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), and 1.18 lakh candidates have passed the Teacher Aptitude Test (TAT). However, many still need to be found despite these qualifications being necessary for teaching positions. During a session of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in March 2024, the state government admitted that out of 3.94 lakh candidates who passed the TET and TAT exams over the past two years, 3.88 lakh are still unemployed,” he said.

He added that frequent protests have been held in Gujarat, with TET and TAT passers demanding employment in schools.

Congress MLA Kirit Patel has also raised the issue in the Assembly, questioning the government on how many candidates had passed these exams and how many had been employed.

In response, the government provided detailed statistics, revealing that by December 31, 2023, 39,395 candidates had passed TAT-1, 35,956 passed TAT-2, and 75,328 cleared TAT Secondary. Additionally, 28,307 candidates passed TAT Secondary (dual level), and 15,253 achieved TAT Higher Secondary (dual level).