Junior Teacher Recruitment: Orissa High Court directs govt to fill up 4000 vacant junior teacher posts

In the latest development in the ongoing contention surrounding the recruitment of junior teacher positions in the state, the Orissa High Court has directed the state government to prepare a second merit list by fixing new cut-off marks and fill up the 4000 vacant junior teacher posts. 

Notably, a notification was issued on October 23, 2023, for the recruitment of around 20,000 junior teachers in Odisha. The Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) published the draft merit list on January 15 for verification of documents on January 20 and 21 after conducting a computer-based test. A batch of petitions challenged the list on the ground that the School and Mass Education department’s August 22, 2023 guidelines on engagement of junior teachers provided for a district-wise draft merit list, but OSEPA had published more of a state merit list without reportedly adhering to the procedure. Consequently, several candidates who could have figured in the district-wise list did not find a place in it. 

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Several candidates moved the Orissa High Court over the matter, requesting the apex court to terminate the proceedings immediately. Some protested outside the OSEPA office in Bhubaneswar. 

On March 12, the High Court not only quashed both the OSEPA merit list as well as the district-wise list but also the High Court’s single judge bench gave an order directing OSEPA to prepare a revised merit strictly adhering to the appointment terms.

However, on June 18, the Division Bench upheld the OSEPA’s original merit list after revising its ruling.

Then the Division Bench also made it clear that if some posts remained unfulfilled due to some reasons, appointments should be made against the vacant posts by releasing another merit list by lowering the cut-off mark.  

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Later, with some candidates not joining their duties due to several reasons, around 4000 posts remained vacant. 

The candidates who were selected in the district-wise merit list but didn’t find a place in the state merit list moved to the court. Since the High Court had earlier directed the government to fill up the vacant posts by releasing another merit list, it accepted the petition of the candidates’ and gave its order today.