50,000 DEd seats in Maharashtra remain vacant
With only 16 per cent of admissions, the jobs of professors of these institutes are also being jeopardised, said Dr Radhika Inamdar, principal of Tilak College Of Education, Pune.
Pune The number of students pursuing Diploma in Education (DEd ) course, previously known as Teacher Certificate Higher course (TCH), is falling for lack of job opportunities. Over 50,000 of the total of 60,000 seats are vacant across Maharashtra.
The admission process for DEd began on May 31, and continued over five phases till June 31. And only 10,800 applications were received for 60,000 seats, with only 9,846 candidates seeking admission.
With only 16 per cent of admissions, the jobs of professors of these institutes are also being jeopardised, said Dr Radhika Inamdar, principal of Tilak College Of Education, Pune. “With the number of students going down in DEd colleges, the future of teachers is also bleak. If an unaided college gets no or low admission, it will eventually shut down as the salaries of teachers depend on fees.
And, for government and aided colleges, if such low number of students are admitted over a period of three years, the governing body will close down a division. As per the standard, we are to have two divisions, with 12 teachers for 100 students, 50 of them in each division. So, closing down of one division means six teachers lose their jobs, as transfer is rare.”
Vijay Dhamne,a professor at DEd institute in Pune said, “Unlike the last decade, with every passing year, this problem is aggravating. It is mostly because of lack of job opportunities. Moreover, making it a two-year course has made the course less promising for secure job. Also, if they manage to get a job in the private sector, then the pay is also very low.”
A popular course only a decade ago, especially in the interior parts of Maharashtra, with many colleges teaching the course for its job opportunities, over 949 DEd colleges were set up across the state. The number of students clearing DEd were more than available job vacancies.
However, in the recent years, the situation has come to standstill with more number of candidates than the available openings. Owing to this, a lot of D Ed graduates have remained unemployed, thus decreasing its popularity.
Among other reasons, many even pointed out the fact that the government has not appointed D Ed candidates in government schools over the past four years. Further, the government's decision to award permissions to more number of institutions has added to the woe. The unemployed population of D Ed students is on the rise, pushing many to go for private jobs paying even for low salaries.