Teacher recruitment: interview to carry only 10 of 100 marks, says Maharashtra education commissioner

To curb the arbitrary decisions of school management in teacher recruitment in the state, fixed marking criteria have been introduced in the selection process, including the interview. Education Commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh gave the information at a press conference. According to him, of the total 100 marks, 90 will be for the marks in the Teacher Aptitude and Intelligence Test, the professional qualification for the recommended post and the academic qualification for that post. Management will have only 10 marks for the interview, which will make the recruitment process more transparent.

The general merit list for the regular round in the selection-with-interview category under the Teacher Aptitude and Intelligence Test 2025, conducted through the Pavitra portal, has now been published. For 10,328 vacancies in schools run by private managements, 11,493 candidates have been recommended for the interview and teaching skills test. These candidates have been recommended against a total of 27,145 preferences.

Appointing authorities have been directed to complete the interviews and teaching skills tests between November 3 and November 25, 2026, planning them according to the provisions of the Government Resolution. Recommended candidates and the managements concerned are being informed by SMS. Candidates can log in to the official Pavitra portal website to check their selection status. The management-wise general merit list has been placed under the "Download" menu on the website's home page.

A state-level grievance redressal and correction committee has been set up to resolve complaints about selections in the selection-without-interview category. Candidates concerned must send complaints in the prescribed format by November 7, 2026, to the email address [email protected].

The category-wise details of the recommended posts are as follows. For classes 1 to 5, there are 1,609 vacancies with interview, and 4,478 candidates have been recommended. For classes 6 to 8, there are 4,505 posts and 10,792 candidates. For classes 9 to 10, there are 4,214 posts and 11,884 candidates have been recommended. The total is 10,328 posts and 27,145 recommendations.

The information also gives the background of the recruitment. The Teacher Aptitude and Intelligence Test for the posts of shikshan sevak and teacher in local self-government bodies and private management schools was held online from May 27 to June 5, 2025. A total of 2,28,808 candidates had registered for it. Of them, 2,11,308 appeared for the examination and 1,70,108 candidates completed the self-certification process.

Subsequently, between May 1 and July 20, 2026, advertisements from schools appeared on the Pavitra portal under both categories, without interview and with interview. Preferences were sought from eligible candidates from August 6 to 16. In the selection-with-interview category, 1,31,505 candidates had locked their preferences.

Earlier, in the selection-without-interview category, a list of 13,119 vacancies for the phase-1 regular round in schools of local self-government bodies and of private managements that had opted for this option was published on August 27. After that, the merit list of the converted round has also been announced for 4,390 posts left vacant in the parallel reservation.