State examination council takes over teacher recruitment responsibility

The decision was announced through a government resolution issued by the school education department on Tuesday

In a significant move aimed at streamlining the teacher recruitment process, the state government has transferred the responsibility of conducting teacher recruitment examinations and selection procedures to the Maharashtra State Examination Council.

The government has also constituted a steering committee to oversee teacher recruitment through the Pavitra Portal. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

The decision was announced through a government resolution issued by the school education department on Tuesday.

The state examination council, an autonomous body functioning under the school education department, already conducts key examinations such as the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) and the Teacher Aptitude and Intelligence Test (TAIT). It has also previously handled several aspects of teacher recruitment. With the latest decision, all stages of recruitment from conducting examinations to final selection will now be managed by a single authority to ensure better coordination, transparency, and timely completion of the process, said officials.

The government has also constituted a steering committee to oversee teacher recruitment through the Pavitra Portal. The committee will be headed by the education commissioner and will include the chairman of the state examination council, the director of the state council of educational research and training, the director of primary education, and the director of secondary education as members. The commissioner of the state examination council will function as the member secretary of the committee. The panel will be responsible for monitoring recruitment, implementing policy decisions, and making recommendations to the government whenever necessary.

According to the officials, “The earlier recruitment mechanism involved several stages such as aptitude and intelligence tests, self-verification by candidates, subject-wise and category-wise reservation processes, fixation of cut-off marks, and preparation of merit lists. These procedures were time-consuming and placed a heavy administrative burden on the office of the education commissioner, affecting the implementation of other key educational policies.”

Teacher recruitment in Maharashtra has been carried out through the Pavitra Portal since 2017.