In support of their demand for filling up large number of vacancy posts of teachers in the Government primary schools, the unemployed Bachelor of Education (BEd)/ Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) qualified youths forced a lockout of State Education Directorate here on Wednesday.
The agitated unemployed youths under the banner of BEd/TET trained federation assembled at the Education Directorate at Nanoorkheda and raised slogans against the Education department.
The general secretary of the federation Amit Sharma said more than 6,200 posts of primary teachers were vacant in the schools of the State and the department was not filling these posts even after the declaration of State Chief Minister Harish Rawat for the same.
He claimed the State Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani had asked the department officials to initiate the recruitment process for these posts on many occasions but the officials of the department were yet to release the recruitment advertisement.
Sharma said the patience of the federation members was fast waning and threatened that the State Government would be solely responsible if the agitation took a violent turn.
The members of the federation are sitting on a dharna outside the office of the State Education Director for last 45 days.
It is pertinent to mention here the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) has clearly directed all the State Governments to appoint only Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) qualified candidates in the primary schools.
The State Government managed to get a two year reprieve from the NCTE on the plea that the State did not have required number of DElEd candidates and it should be allowed to recruit BEd and TET qualified youths in the primary schools of the State. This two years extension is ending on March 2016 due to which BEd/TET qualified youths are anxious to get themselves into the job security of government teaching post.