More than 13,000 junior teachers appointed on a schematic basis during the 2023-24 recruitment cycle have received a fresh regularisation order from the Odisha government, ending months of uncertainty over their service status.
The School and Mass Education Department issued a revised notification on October 1, 2026, regularising eligible Junior Teachers (Schematic) as Assistant Teachers in Level-V(A) of the Elementary Cadre with effect from January 1, 2026. The order applies to teachers who were recruited through the prescribed process and are continuing in service, subject to the conditions laid down by the government.
The latest notification is important because it changes the effective date and treatment of the teachers’ earlier service. It supersedes the department’s previous notification of April 2, 2026, which had provided for regularisation from the respective dates of joining and notional service benefits up to December 31, 2025.
Under the October 1 order, the period from each teacher’s initial joining date until December 31, 2025, will continue to be treated as service rendered in schematic or contractual capacity. That period will not give the teachers a right to claim regular-cadre seniority or consequential benefits attached to regular service.
From January 1, 2026, however, the teachers covered by the notification will be entitled to regular pay and other admissible service benefits applicable to Assistant Teachers in Level-V(A), subject to the relevant government rules and instructions.
The change comes after the earlier April order became the subject of a legal challenge. The Orissa High Court imposed an interim stay on the regularisation process on April 14, according to a PTI report published during a junior teachers’ protest on September 17. At that time, the teachers were demanding that the government resolve the legal issue and implement regularisation.
Dispute was linked to seniority concerns raised by teachers appointed earlier. In the April case, petitioners argued that giving the 2023-24 batch regular status from their initial engagement could affect their position in the gradation list. The High Court had sought a response from the state government on the issue.
October notification takes a different approach by fixing January 1, 2026, as the effective date of regularisation. It also specifically separates the earlier schematic or contractual period from the teachers’ regular service, including for seniority purposes.
The department’s notification says it has been issued in pursuance of a subsequent decision in the matter and orders its publication in an extraordinary issue of the Odisha Gazette.
The development follows an indefinite protest by around 13,000 junior teachers in Bhubaneswar in September. At that time, the teachers had said that the April regularisation order could not be implemented because of the court proceedings.
For the affected teachers, the practical change begins from January 1, 2026. Their earlier service remains classified as schematic or contractual, while their service from that date is recognised under the regular Assistant Teacher framework in Level-V(A), provided they meet the conditions in the government order.
Notification therefore addresses two issues at the same time: it provides a clear effective date for regularisation and limits the consequences of regular service for the period before January 1, 2026.
The legal proceedings and any subsequent court directions will remain relevant to the implementation of the order.
