Patna: A whopping 36,000 persons have applied for the 520 ad-hoc teacher posts at government schools in Patna district, and 32,000 of the applicants have an engineering background in what is clinching proof of just how dismal the employment scenario in Bihar is.

The state education department, faced with alarming teacher shortages at government schools, had invited district-wise application for English, mathematics and science teachers at Plus Two schools. Monday was the last date for submitting applications.

The chosen candidates will get Rs 1,000 per class and a maximum of Rs 25,000 per month.

Long queues of candidates were seen at KB Sahay High School Shekhpura in the state capital. Among them was Chandan Kumar, who said he is an alumnus of Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya in Bhopal.

"I have got my electronics engineering degree in 2012. As there was no placement I prepared for government jobs. But because the number of vacancies in the government sector has come down in the past few years, we have failed to get jobs," he said.

Echoing the views of Chandan was another engineering graduate, Sumit Kumar.

Sumit said he had done his engineering in electronics from a private college in Calcutta in 2016.

"In 2012, when I joined the college, I was confident of getting a job," Sumit said. "but despite spending a huge amount of money on my engineering course neither was there any placement of students nor were there any vacancies in government jobs."

Both Sumit and Chandan said they are aware that an ad-hoc teacher can only earn a fraction of what an engineer can, but they are desperate for a job so they can't be choosy.

Though engineering graduates comprise around 80 percent of the total applicants, it is unlikely that engineers will get preference for the teaching jobs. Ashok Kumar, district programme officer (DPO), Patna, said: "As per state government directives we will give preference to candidates who are MSc, BEd, and have qualified for the Special Teacher Eligibility Test (STET), followed by retired teachers having MSc and BEd degree.

"Third preference will be given to such candidates who have MSc and BEd degrees, followed by engineering graduates who have BEd degrees," Ashok added. "In the last category, candidates having BTech or MTech degree will be given preference."

According to education department sources, there are around 4,200 vacant posts of teachers in mathematics, science and English subjects at around 5,000 government Plus Two schools across Bihar. Sources said that the maximum number of vacant posts are in English and physics - around 1,000 vacancies in each subject.

The government after scrutiny of applications will prepare the merit list, followed by which the appointments will be made by June end.