The teachers belonging to the Prathmik Shikshak Sangh (PSS), an association of Government school primary teachers, organised a massive demonstration at the Education Directorate on Monday. The teachers demanded that the officials responsible for failure to take necessary permission for the Special BTC course from the National Council of Teachers Education (NCTE) should be punished.
The teachers resolved that no teacher would enroll into the six-month bridge course offered by the National School of Open Schooling (NIOS). large number of teachers from different parts of the State descended at the State Directorate and engaged in a vehement protest.
The general secretary of the PSS, Digvijay Singh said thousands of teachers were given in service training by the Education Department in different District Institutes of Education Training (DIET) after which the Uttarakhand Board conducted an examination of these candidates. He charged the officers of department of criminal negligence as it has now proved that no permission was taken from NCTE for these courses.
A memorandum was later submitted to the Education Director RK Kunwar in which the association demanded action against the officials responsible for the failure. The teachers also pledged that they would not get enrolled for the six-month bridge course of NIOS. BJP leader Ravindra Jugaran also pledged support for the cause of teachers.
There are more than 13,500 serving teachers in Uttarakhand who are Special BTC (termed Vishisht BTC). These teachers are Bachelor of Education (BEd) qualified but to make them eligible to teach in the primary classes the Education Department imparted them an in-service training of special BTC in different District Institutes of Teachers Training (DIET). Such teachers were appointed in the Primary teacher cadre of State education department during different periods after the creation of a separate state. 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. It 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 primary teaching. For non Bed qualified primary teachers registration process for DElEd course with National School of Open Schooling (NIOS) ended on September 30. The BEd qualified candidates who are teaching primary candidates are required to register for a six months bridge course offered by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). The state government has now requested the NCTE to reconsider its decision and give approval for Special BTC course.