Teachers opposed reduction of lectures from 45 to 40 minutes, an increase in science practical batch strength from 20 to 30 students and withdrawal of concessions for students in tribal, hilly and rural areas and girls.
Maharashtra State Junior College Teachers’ Federation alleged that the education department changed the norms while granting staff approval for 2025-26 academic year without a government resolution or circular. We want the govt to retain the norms they had for the last 40 years so that classroom teaching and individual attention to students is not affected,” the federation’s advisor Santosh Fazge said. “Currently, the teachers will be shown surplus and then the sanctioned posts will be reduced. The surplus teacher number will be so high that they will be sent to colleges without teachers which will lead to removal of teachers on contract.
Pune: Hundreds of junior college teachers marched to the education commissioner’s office in Pune on Friday demanding that the previous norms for sanctioning teaching posts be retained.
The federation claimed that the revised norms will cut around 10,000 junior college teachers’ posts, temporary teachers and Shikshan Sevaks will lose their jobs and some permanent teachers will be declared ‘surplus’. Shorter lecture duration will affect around 3,000 to 4,000 teachers, while the increase in practical batch strength will reduce science teachers, according to the federation. It claimed that 700-800 teachers will be affected in tribal and hilly areas after the minimum student requirement for a division was increased from 30 to 50.