CHENNAI: PMK founder S Ramadoss condemned the school education department for delaying the appointment of PG teachers to government schools and demanded the department conduct competitive exams for recruitment.

In a statement, the senior leader said that the school education department has announced that competitive exams for appointing PG teachers will be conducted after modifying the exam syllabus.

"The decision has been taken to delay the recruitment process. In 2021, recruitment notification was issued and 2,000 PG teachers were appointed. For the last three years, such notifications were not issued. However, an announcement was made to conduct the exam in August by issuing a notification in May. Even after 6 months, the notification is yet to be issued," he added.

Saying that the process of modifying the syllabus would take 18 months and the exam process would take another 18 months, Ramadoss added that PG teachers will not be appointed till 2026. "This will affect the education of students in high and higher secondary schools. PMK is not criticizing the upgrading of the syllabus, but the department could have taken up the exercise during the last three years," he said.

Pointing out that competitive exams for appointment of intermediate teachers, graduate teachers and assistant professors of arts and science colleges are already in limbo, Ramadoss demanded the government issue the notification immediately to recruit PG teachers.