The fate of thousands of untrained primary school teachers in the State hangs in balance as the last date for registration for Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) course from the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) ended on September 30,
The Regional director of NIOS, Pradeep Rawat said that applications of about 10,000 candidates who have not deposited fees along with registration would be cancelled. He said that the training programme for the registered candidates would soon be declared. Rawat said that the DElEd is also compulsory for the candidates who teach subjects other than physical education and have Diploma and degree in Physical education (BPEd).
More than 41,000 primary school teachers of Government and private schools have registered for DElEd with the NIOS for its six month bridge course.
Recently the HRD ministry had asked all teachers teaching primary students should compulsorily have the Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) by March 2019 failing which they would be removed from their jobs. The Union Government has asked the State Governments to ensure that the all untrained teachers must register themselves for diploma course offered by NIOS.
The teachers who have BTC certificates would be exempted from this compulsion. The teachers that are teaching the classes from I to VIII come under the ambit of the order.
There are thousands of teachers in Uttarakhand who teach the students of primary classes but they don’t possess the necessary qualification. There are many Bachelor of Education (BEd) qualified teachers in the State Government teaching primary classes. As per the government order these untrained teachers must complete their DElEd course before March 15, 2019 to continue teaching the primary class.