CHENNAI: Over a year has passed since the notification was issued on the teaching position vacancies, the Tamil Nadu Teachers Recruitment Board has yet to appoint over 3,000 assistant professors across government arts and science colleges in the state, as educationists insist that the new academic year is nearing and delay in the recruitment will severely affect the students.

After several requests from the stakeholders, the Higher Education Department gave the nod at the beginning of 2024 to fill the 3,000 assistant professor posts that are lying vacant. Accordingly, TRB, which is the nodal government recruitment agency for both schools and colleges, issued the recruitment notification in March 2024. A senior TRB official, seeking anonymity, said that the online enrolment began on March 28, 2024, for the direct recruitment of assistant professors and ended on April 29, 2024.

"After scrutinising the applications, the TRB announced that recruitment exams would be conducted on August 4, 2024. However, due to technical reasons, the board has indefinitely postponed the exams at that time. Going by TRB's latest 2025 annual planner, the exams are expected to be conducted in July this year," he added.

Pointing out that the state government is facing several issues, P Thirunavukkarasu, vice chairman, Association of University Teachers (AUT), reiterated that the delay in recruitment of assistant professors was due to the demand by guest lecturers who want the government to make them permanent employees.

"The authorities concerned should take steps to resolve this issue and fill vacancies soon," he said, adding, "If the appointments were delayed, it will affect the students".