The fate of hundreds of students undergoing two year Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) course in eight District Institutes Education and Training (DIET) of Uttarakhand hangs in balance as National Council of Teachers Training (NCTE) has categorically stated that courses from these institutes would be not valid for jobs in any Government or other institutions.
The President of Association of Self Financed Institutes of Uttarakhand, Sunil Agarwal informed newsmen here on Tuesday that NCTE in a reply dated September 03, to Right to Information (RTI) query filed by Roorkee resident Vinay Verma, has said that courses without the its approval are invalid under section 17(4) of NCTE act 1993. The apex body of teacher education has stated that courses offered by such institutes (unrecognized) would not be considered for appointments in any central institutes, state bodies, Universities, any institute funded by union or state government, any school or college. The NCTE reply to RTI application means that the D.El.Ed course offered by DIETs of Bhimtal Nainital, Roorkee Haridwar, Almora, Rudrapur Udham Singh Nagar, Kandoli Dehradun, Badkot Uttarkashi, Srinagar Pauri and lohaghat Champawat are not recognized which puts question mark on the future of 400 students enrolled there. It is worth mentioning here that all the 13 DIETs of State had applied for recognition to NCTE for D.El.Ed courses in the year 2012. The NCTE on inspection of these colleges refused to give its clearance to above mentioned eight colleges. The education department however conducted an entrance examination for admissions in these colleges last year and gave admissions to 1350 students. The students are paying a fee of Rs 35000 per year for the two year course.
Agarwal said that the state government refused to give permission of offering D.El.Ed courses to the private colleges of the state on the plea that the DIETs of state are capable enough for these courses. “ The so called capability of the DIETs is exposed by the NCTE refusing to recognize some the colleges. I fail to understand why the government is not interested to give permission of offering D.El.Ed courses to the private colleges which have adequate infrastructure,” he said. Agarwal was of the view that government’s stand on the issue would result in migration of the students to neighbouring states where hundreds of private institutes offer D.El.Ed courses. Interestingly the inclination of students for D.El.Ed course is increasing as NCTE has ruled that only this course is valid for being eligible to teach in the primary schools. In Uttarakhand more than 56000 candidates appeared for 1350 seats last year while the response for B.Ed. degree is waning among students due to lack of employment opportunities.