The Uttar Pradesh government has proposed to make Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) mandatory for the recruitment of teachers in madrasas to provide quality education to students.
A proposal is being prepared for implementing it, Minister of State for Minority Welfare, Danish Azad Ansari disclosed here on Sunday.
In its proposal, the government said that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) syllabus had been implemented to provide quality education to students in Uttar Pradesh madrasas. He said since it was a scientifically designed course, it was imperative to have trained teachers to teach it better.
“In view of this, the government is going to make it mandatory to clear the TET for the recruitment of teachers in madrasas,” Ansari said.
The minister also clarified that the requirement of TET would not apply to teachers of Urdu, Arabic, Farsi or Diniyat and it would be applicable only for the recruitment of teachers teaching NCERT syllabus.
Opposing the government proposal, joint general secretary of Teachers Association Madaris Arabiya, Hakim Abdul Haque, said the step would lead to discrimination against a section of madrasa teachers.
Haque also said that there would be a practical difference of merit between teachers teaching in the same madrasa and the teachers recruited on the basis of TET. He said that it was not clear whether the government would keep both teachers in the same category.
He said the new system would increase the risk of discrimination just like between permanent teachers and siksha mitras (ad hoc teachers) in primary schools.
In 2017, the Uttar Pradesh government had approved teaching from NCERT books in Tathaniya (classes 1 to 5), Faukania (classes 5 to 8) and madrasas of Aaliya or higher Aaliya level (high school and above).