After the green signal by the Uttarakhand High Court (HC) for the recruitment of more than three thousand posts of primary teachers the onus now lies on the education department to complete the process of recruitment before September 30. The National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) has given exemption to the State Government to recruit Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) qualified candidate as primary teachers only till this date.
The Uttarakhand High Court (HC) on Monday had asked the state government to follow the year wise seniority criteria for selection of B.Ed/TET qualified candidates for the posts of primary teachers. The double bench of Chief Justice KN Joseph and Justice VK Bisht had given these orders on the petition of Tehri Garhwal resident Keshwanand Jhildiyal who had challenged the recruitment process of primary teachers on the grounds that the process is not as per the guidelines laid down in the Uttarakhand Primary Teacher Service Rules 2012- amended 2013.
The Federation of B.Ed/ TET qualified unemployed youth which was spearheading an agitation since January 5 this year for recruitment in the primary teacher cadre of State has welcomed the HC decision. The general secretary of the federation Amit Kashyap told The Pioneer that the education department should now expedite the process of recruitment and should ensure that that the unemployed youths should get appointed before September 30. It is worth mentioning here that the NCTE on the plea of State Government had given waiver to recruit B.Ed/TET qualified candidates as primary teachers till March 31 and later extended the deadline to September 30. The NCTE has clearly directed the Central and State Governments to ensure that they should consider only the Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) and TET qualified candidates for recruitment of teachers in the primary schools.
When contacted the officiating director of State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) Seema Jaunsari told The Pioneer that the department is yet to receive the copy of court order. She however claimed that the department is fully ready to complete the process of recruitment before the stipulated date.
There are more than 25,000 B.Ed/ TET qualified unemployed youths in the State. The State Government on the relentless pressure created by these youths started the process of recruitment for 1898 posts of primary teachers. The department later added 96 and 800 more posts under backlog quota in this recruitment drive. These youths are anxious as the current recruitment drive is their last chance to get the job as Government primary teacher.