The Delhi Assembly on Friday adopted a resolution seeking 85 per cent reservation for graduates of universities in Delhi in the recruitment of permanent or guest teachers in schools here.

The resolution was adopted by the House after it was approved by all the members cutting across party lines following a discussion on it.

Addressing the legislators in the Assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said the existing recruitment rules would have to be amended for this purpose.

Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, said that 9,500 posts of teachers are lying vacant in government schools. The concerned department has received around 1.43 lakh applications against the vacancies. Out of these, 68,000 are for TGTs and 73,870 for PGTs.

Sisodia, while replying to a discussion on the issue, asserted that the ongoing recruitment process would have a provision of "normalisation" under which locals would not be in a position of disadvantage.

BJP MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the AAP government should absorb 17,000 guest teachers as permanent teachers before giving reservation in the appointment of teachers.

According to Sisodia, a proposal was rejected by former LG Najeeb Jung to regularise around 17,000 guest teachers but the government was open to sending the file pertaining to the issue to incumbent LG Anil Baijal.

The discussion was earlier initiated by AAP MLA Nitin Tyagi, pitching for quota for Delhi'ites in teachers' recruitment.
He said that candidates graduating from Delhi are always found to be in a position of disadvantage due to various factors.

According to Tyagi, if we compare the education standards of Delhi with other states, we will find that it is not as good as in Delhi, "so we cannot afford to play with the future of Delhi's children."

The Assembly passed the resolution expressing the view that for all future recruitments, whether for permanent teachers through the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) or for guest teachers through open applications and a merit list, preference be given to candidates graduating from the universities in Delhi.

It said the House resolves that the Directorate of Education will "ensure 85% quota for permanent and guest teacher positions for candidates graduating from universities in Delhi for all future processes of recruitment."