The issue of 16000 special BTC teachers whose in service training is yet to be recognised by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) could come up in court soon.
The file for recognition of the special six month training done by these teachers is pending in the NCTE for long which technically renders these teachers as ineligible to take primary classes.
In this regard RTI activist, Bhupendra Chaudhary has written letters to Prime Minister, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Education Minister of Uttarakhand, NCTE and State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) and many other related departments and institutions.
In the letter, Chaudhary has said that these teachers who received six month special BTC training between the year 2001 to 2017 is not recognised by the NCTE and they have also not done the mandatory bridge course. He said that these teachers are getting salary equivalent to the trained teachers and getting full pay scale. Chaudhary said that unnecessary economic burden to pay salaries of these teachers is on the State.
The RTI activist has said that he would file a PIL in the High Court (HC) if no action is taken on these teachers.
It is pertinent to mention here that more than 16000 Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) qualified candidates appointed by education department from the year 2001 to 2016 as primary teachers and were imparted in service special BTC in different Districts Institutes of Education and Teaching (DIETs). However in 2016 it was realised that the all important recognition from NCTE was not taken by the education department of Uttarakhand for this course. As per the new guidelines of the union Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry, only the Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) qualified candidates are eligible to teach the primary students. The HRD ministry had made it clear that after March 2019, all primary teachers who don’t have a DElEd degree or BTC certificate would be removed from post of primary teachers. However the passage of NCTE amendment bill in parliament and subsequent notification by the government paved the way for recognition of their course in retrospection after which the education department sought approval of NCTE, the file of which is still pending.