The Himachal Pradesh Education Department has started the process to fill 355 Physical Education Teacher (PET) posts in government schools on a batch-wise basis after a gap of nearly 21 years. The move has brought relief and renewed hope for hundreds of unemployed youth possessing D.P.Ed., D.P.E., and Physical Education qualifications who have been waiting for recruitment for years.
According to the Directorate of School Education, around 1,011 PET posts are currently lying vacant in government schools across the state. Candidates said the commencement of the recruitment process has raised hopes of employment opportunities in the education sector.
The Directorate has issued category-wise cut-off batches for recruitment. For the General Category, the cut-off has been fixed up to December 31, 2005, while for SC (Unreserved) candidates, it is up to December 31, 2007. The EWS category cut-off has been kept up to the year 2006. Separate cut-offs have also been fixed for OBC, ST, BPL, and Wards of Freedom Fighters categories. Candidates’ educational documents will be verified during the counselling process.
District-wise, Kangra has been allotted the highest number of vacancies with 75 posts, followed by Mandi with 62 and Shimla with 42 posts. Una has 39 vacancies, Sirmaur 30, Chamba 29, Kullu 24, Hamirpur 18, Solan 14, Bilaspur 10, Kinnaur 7, and Lahaul-Spiti 5 posts.
Counseling sessions for recruitment will be held on June 3 and 4 across Himachal Pradesh. This time, the Education Department has introduced a major change in the counseling process. Candidates will now be required to attend counseling only in their respective districts. However, they will still be able to indicate their preferred districts through an “Order of Preference” form.
Earlier, candidates had to travel to different districts to participate in counseling, resulting in additional financial burden and loss of time. The new arrangement is expected to make the recruitment process easier and more convenient for applicants.
Director of School Education Ashish Kohli said candidates must possess a D.P.Ed. diploma or degree from a recognized university. He added that candidates having a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education with a minimum of 50 percent marks will also be eligible for recruitment. Relaxation in marks will be provided to reserved category candidates as per the prescribed government rules.
