All schools in Maharashtra expected to remain closed today, December 5, 2025, due to a statewide strike organized by teachers’ groups. Both teaching and non-teaching staff from primary and secondary schools hold protest marches to the district collector’s offices, demanding solutions to pending issues.
The official notice from the teachers’ union states that the protest march will start at the new Zilla Parishad building in Pune and will lead to a rally outside the district collector’s office.
Why Are Teachers Protesting in Maharashtra?
Among the many demands, one is to urge the government to withdraw its order making the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) mandatory for all teaching staff hired before 2013. Protestors also want the cancellation of the Government Resolution issued on March 15, 2024, which changes how teaching and non-teaching staff will approved or assigned in many private, aided, and local-body schools in the state. Under this resolution, staff approvals would depend on student enrollment in each class.
Additionally, the teachers’ groups are seeking an end to the ‘Shikshan Sevak’ contractual system, full implementation of regular pay grades for teaching staff, and a stop to the assignment of online and non-teaching tasks.
The “Sanch Manyata” Policy: Threatening Jobs and Schools
Some organizations have labeled the strike as a protest against the state’s “Sanch Manyata” policy of 2024. This policy states that the number of teachers assigned to a specific school will depend on the number of students enrolled instead of the number of classes or grades.
According to the protestors in Maharashtra, this change is concerning as it may jeopardize the teaching positions in many aided, rural, tribal, or low-enrollment schools with fewer students. Under this policy, schools with fewer than 20 students may not receive a teacher at all.
Read also: Major U-Turn, Calcutta HC Restores 32,000 Teachers’ Appointments