Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday announced to regularise the services of over 13,000 teachers appointed under various schemes and said 45,000 more will be recruited over the next three years. He made the announcements while addressing the State-Level Teachers’ Day Celebration and Chief Minister’s Education Award Ceremony in Bhubaneswar.

To check dropout rates, the Chief Minister said the State government has already extended midday meal scheme till Class 10 and also introduced ‘Madho Singh Haat Kharcha’ scheme under which a one-time incentive of Rs 5,000 is provided to ST students getting enrolled in classes 9 and 11.

The State government had launched the scheme following a survey which stated that 24 per cent tribal students drop out from schools before reaching classes 9 and 10. Majhi said in order to provide quality education to students, the State government has appointed around 20,000 teachers, including 13,000 under various schemes, in the past 15 months and another 45,000 teachers will be recruited in next three years.

“The to-be-appointed 45,000 teachers will get regular posting and not under any scheme,” the Chief Minister said. Majhi also used the occasion to felicitate teachers and institutions that have made notable contributions to the education sector.

Jharsuguda district was awarded Rs 3 crore for securing the top position in the Chief Minister’s Education Award programme, followed by Khurda district with Rs 2 crore and Jagatsinghpur district with Rs 1 crore.

In all, 70 teachers were honoured at the event, along with three District Education Officers, three District Education Training Institutes and 10 Block Education Officers. Two tribal students, who had successfully cleared the NEET examination, were also felicitated. At the event, the Chief Minister launched Odisha Curriculum Framework for School Education -2025 book based on the National Education Policy, and a coffee table book on the occasion of the first year of Shikrut Odisha. He also launched ‘Padhiba, Gadhiba Odisha Abhiyan’.

School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond, who also attended the event, praised the role of teachers in shaping thesociety and lauded the Guru-Sishya tradition. Meanwhile, a number of teachers who work in different aided schools and colleges, staged a demonstration near the Assembly building demanding retirement benefits like pensions. “The government is sympathetic towards teachers’ demands. Give us some time to take up their issues,” Gond told reporters.

On the other hand, BJD MLA Sarada Prasanna Jena criticised the BJP government for not giving appointments to new teachers. “The teachers said to have been appointed in the past year were actually selected under the previous BJD government. This government has not given jobs to any new teacher on its own,” claimed Jena.