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Post 'Shalarth Scam', Maharashtra Goes Digital with the School Staff Information of Over 5 Lakh Personnel
After discovering irregularities in the Shalarth payroll system, Maharashtra Primary Education Department has, as a transparency initiative, made the details of more than five lakh teaching and non-teaching staff from government and aided schools available on the official Shalarth System website.
Officials added that for the first time, the general public has been given the right to access the records of school staff including teachers of private, aided schools and local body institutions throughout the state. Details shared are the teacher's name, school and management category, date of joining, retirement date, and salary (last drawn).
According to the department, the database covers over 2.93 lakh employees from private-aided schools and around two lakh teachers working in local body schools. The records have been organised board-wise for eight divisional boards — Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Latur, Nagpur and Amravati. Each set of records has been uploaded in searchable PDF format containing thousands of pages.
The step follows revelations of irregularities in the Shalarth system that first surfaced in Nagpur in 2024. The payroll platform, used by the state education department to manage salaries of school employees, was allegedly misused by some officials to appoint ineligible teachers using forged documents. In some cases, Shalarth IDs were reportedly created for non-existent employees, enabling fraudulent salary withdrawals.
To verify records, Sachindra Pratap Singh, the state’s Education Commissioner, had directed schools in August 2025 to resubmit recruitment documents and Shalarth IDs of all staff members. Schools were required to upload appointment letters, joining reports, approval orders and related documents depending on the year of recruitment.
Officials said that over 99 per cent of schools had completed the resubmission process by early March 2026. The department has released that information to the public now. Mahesh Palkar, Director of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, stated that the decision was taken as per the requirements of the RTI Act to promote transparency after the Shalarth scandal.
Educationist Mahendra Ganpule lauded the move and said that if the records were made open to the public, it would lessen the load on schools in answering RTI requests and at the same time, it would be a check on any further irregularities.
CHSE Odisha Introduces Improvement Exams for Plus 2 Students from 2026
The Council of Higher Secondary Education Odisha (CHSE) has introduced an improvement examination system for Plus 2 students starting from the academic session 2026. Through this system, students who have already passed the exam will be allowed to reappear for a single subject which will help them in getting higher marks and better chances of getting admission to various competitive higher education courses.
The CHSE examination committee, through this decision, intends to help the students who, after admission into various universities and professional courses, fail to meet the cutoff.
As per the new plan, only the students who have passed the Annual Higher Secondary Examination (AHSE) will be eligible for the improvement test. The students can choose one subject in which they want to reappear for the exam.
The officials informed that the window for the application will be open within 15 days after the declaration of Plus 2 results, and the improvement examination shall be conducted within one month after the declaration of results. The result of the improvement test is expected to come out within 60 days of the examination.
Besides the existing instant examination system which is done for the students who fail in one or more subjects and wish to clear them without waiting a whole academic year, the improvement exam system will be operated.
The AHSE 2026 examinations in Odisha are to finish on March 21. The results are expected towards the end of May.
Every year, more than five lakh students take the Plus 2 examination in the state, making it one of the biggest school-level examinations in the region. According to education officials, the change is a result of student and teacher protests for allowing students to improve their grades without losing a whole year.
Students have been advised to monitor the official CHSE website for application forms, detailed guidelines and examination schedules once the Plus 2 results are announced.
Class 10 Student Allegedly Attacks Teacher at ZP High School in Andhra Pradesh
Tension broke out at a school in Krishna, Andhra Pradesh. A Class 10 student reportedly hit a teacher after a fight on campus. It started when the teacher scolded the student about rules. The warning grew into a loud argument right there. The student punched the teacher. Everyone panicked. Staff ran in fast and stopped the scene. They calmed things down quickly.
Now, the school is looking into what happened. It seems like a small fight turned serious. Probably, the student was acting out. Still, no one knows for sure what started it. The staff says they acted fast. It is hard to say if it was just one bad moment. The whole school felt unsafe at the same time.
The incident stirred up a lot of unrest in the school for a while, as both students and staff kept coming to the spot after the altercation. School administration then made the decision to notify local authorities and initiate measures to defuse the situation.
Speaking to the press, the officials mentioned that the case is under investigation and the necessary steps will be taken soon, after an initial inquiry. More information about the student and the teacher who were involved was not given right away.
Education department officials will likely be investigating the incident as well, and they will be aiming to understand what exactly led to the confrontation.
MRF Launches NCERT-Based National Mathematics Olympiad to Boost Students’ Mathematical Skills
MRF now launches the national Maths Olympiad. This yearly event covers students from Class 1 to 12. So it follows NEP 2020, focusing on growth and real, life problem solving. Instead of just memorizing, it builds thinking and math skills. The program seems designed to help kids grow smarter. Students get hands, on experience with real problems. It helps them think clearly and solve things better. Thats probably what makes it stand out. The National Maths Olympiad matches NCERTs teaching plan. NCERT runs independently under India's Ministry of education. The curriculum helps students think clearly and act wisely. So it probably makes learning more meaningful.
The National Maths Olympiad is designed to be two-tiered so as to adequately gauge the mathematical talent in the country. Both round curriculum will be strongly grounded on the NCERT standards in order to provide an equal playing field among all the applicants.
● Prelims - Round 1 (School Level): This is a preliminary stage that involves an offline, multiple-choice question (MCQ) examination to be undertaken in schools involved in it.
● Mains - Round 2 (National Level): This round involves an examination that is a problem solving based one and still is conducted at the designated venue of qualifying students between Class 3 and 12. (The round 2 does not take place in classes 1 and 2
It is expected to have over 1 lakh students in the first year of the National Maths Olympiad.
In order to suit the different academic timetables of CBSE, ICSE and State board exams, the Foundation has offered a flexible Round 1 schedule. The schools can choose between the following officially planned dates or can choose a specific date that fits their needs:
● 24 August (Last day to register: 31 July)
● 23 September (Registration deadline: 31 August)
● 28 October (Registration deadline: 30 September)
● 25 November (Registration Deadline: 31 October)
Registration is done offline via schools and all registration information must be sent to the head offices of the Mathematics Research Foundation in New Delhi at least 20 days before the date of examination adopted. The examination date and other information required concerning Round 2 will be announced later by the Foundation upon the announcement of Round 1 results.
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The complete registration details and proforma can be found at https://mathsolympiad.in/national-maths-olympiad-details.
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The syllabus for the National Maths Olympiad can be found at https://mathsolympiad.in/syllabus
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The sample papers for the National Maths Olympiad can be found at https://mathsolympiad.in/sample-papers
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National Maths Olympiad sample papers are available at the following site: mathsolympiad.in/sample-papers.
Rewards and Recognition
The campaign focuses on merit and involvement. Every participant will be given a certificate, and school-level winners will be given a medal and a certificate of merit upon their performance. Cash prizes, special merit certificates and medals can be granted to national winners. To ensure that national achievers are rewarded, a prize named after Aryabhata will be named the Aryabhata Award, and great teachers will receive another award named after Bhaskaracharya, the Bhaskaracharya Award. National/ State/ Zonal level winners will be given prizes valued above 10 lakh.
Moreover, the National Maths Olympiad gives students a special opportunity to socialize with the Indian best mathematicians who are presently affiliated with the IITs, IIMs, IIITs, NITs and IISc.
Resources and Support
The Mathematics Research Foundation has an elaborate syllabus and sample papers, to help students study and prepare at all grades. These materials, and elaborate registration proformas, can be found on the official site at mathsolympiad.in.
To ask any questions, school coordinators and parents may use the Foundation through email at mailto:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or WhatsApp/call at +91 9988113929.
Maharashtra Minority Status Row: Schools Run by 20 Trusts Must Reserve 25% Seats Under RTE Act
After the demise of former Minority Development minister Ajit Pawar, the issue of granting minority status certificates to several educational trusts in Maharashtra has created a stir. At the center of this dispute, 20 trusts' schools whose approvals were put on hold have now been directed to keep 25 percent of their seats reserved for children from socio, economically underprivileged families under the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
Since minority- run institutions are exempted from the RTE Act, which requires private unaided schools to allocate 25 percent of their seats to students from economically weaker and disadvantaged sections of society, these schools had no such requirement. However, as the minority status of these trusts has been suspended temporarily for investigation, the exemption will not be valid anymore.
Acting on a list recently issued by the Minority Development Department, the Directorate of Primary Education has directed district-level officials to identify schools run by the 20 trusts and include them in the RTE admission portal if they had earlier been excluded on account of minority status, according to Director of Primary Education Sharad Gosavi.
“The list includes 20 trusts. Each trust may run one or more schools, some of which could be primary schools. Local officers have been asked to verify the schools and include them in the system accordingly,” he told this newspaper.
Among the trusts whose minority status certificates have been kept in abeyance are Shri Mata Kanyaka Seva Sanstha in Chandrapur; Sevadas Maharaj Shikshan Prasarak Mandal and Shrimati Laxmibai Raghogi Ingle Shikshan Prasarak Mandal in Yavatmal; multiple Podar trust institutions based in Parel, Mumbai; Danish Welfare Society in Amravati; Azad Education and Multipurpose Sanstha in Buldhana; and Gurukul Pisa Foundation in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, apart from education societies located in Thane, Gondia, Nagpur and Kolhapur.
Of the 20 trusts, six are located in Mumbai district — the highest in the state — followed by four in Yavatmal and two in Thane, while one trust each is located in Chandrapur, Amravati, Buldhana, Nagpur, Gondia, Kolhapur, Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
Officials said the move is likely to increase the number of seats available under the RTE admission process, which is currently underway in Maharashtra.
“If any of the newly added schools fall within a one-kilometre radius of a child’s residence, parents can apply for admission there,” Gosavi said, adding that applicants should keep checking the RTE admission website as the system is updated. The current application window will remain open until March 10.
The exact number of additional seats that will become available under the RTE quota is not yet known. “The number will be clear only after these schools are reflected in the RTE admission system,” Gosavi added.
The development comes in the backdrop of a controversy over the issuance of minority status certificates to several educational trusts in the state. Questions were raised after minority status approvals were issued to dozens of trusts within a short period around the time of Ajit Pawar’s death on January 28, prompting allegations of irregularities.
Following the controversy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis ordered that the approvals be kept in abeyance pending review, while Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar directed a detailed inquiry into the process. Milind Shenoy, Deputy Secretary in the Minority Development Department, whose digital signature appears on all the uploaded certificates, was transferred on administrative grounds following the controversy. This week, Ruchesh Jaivanshi, Secretary of the department, was also transferred, although the government did not link the move to the controversy.
The Minority Development Department, however, has defended the approvals. As first reported by The Indian Express on February 22, the department told the Chief Secretary that most of the certificates that appeared to have been issued between January 28 and January 30 were uploaded after technical errors in the MahaIT portal, which had delayed the generation of digital minority status certificates, were rectified. The department called reports saying the approval process was random "fake" and a lie. It said hearings and final picks for 19 of 20 trusts were done between Dec 24, 2025, and Jan 27, 2026, when Ajit Pawar was still alive and running the minority Development group.
Under the RTE Act, private schools in Maharashtra must set aside 25% of spots for kids from poor families, and the state covers the school fees.
These schools have always said no to required RTE admissions, because they get delayed payments from the state. Associations representing such schools claim that pending reimbursements have cumulatively crossed ₹2,000 crore.
Education activists say that minority status has increasingly become a route for private schools to avoid RTE obligations, since institutions run by minority trusts are exempt from the mandatory 25 per cent reservation under the law.
Minority status row: At a glance
Minority certificates of 20 trusts kept in abeyance amid a row over approvals issued around the time of Ajit Pawar’s death.
Their schools must now join the RTE admission process and reserve 25% seats for disadvantaged students.
Minority institutions are exempt from RTE, but the exemption does not apply while their status is under suspension.
District officials asked to add these schools to the RTE portal.
Trusts include: Shri Mata Kanyaka Seva Sanstha (Chandrapur), Sevadas Maharaj Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (Yavatmal), Shrimati Laxmibai Raghogi Ingle Shikshan Prasarak Mandal (Yavatmal), Danish Welfare Society (Amravati), Azad Education and Multipurpose Sanstha (Buldhana), Gurukul Pisa Foundation (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), and Podar trust institutions in Parel, Mumbai.
CBSE class 10 board exams cancelled in Middle East, class 12 Mar 7 exam postponed
