Qualification norms make teachers jittery

SHILLONG, OCT 17: If one goes by the recent notification issued by the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBOSE), many of the 11447 lower primary school teachers, especially those who are under-qualified, will have to “re-appear” for the higher secondary level examination next year to meet the minimum qualification as specified by the National Council for Teacher’s Education (NCTE).

MBOSE has issued notification to all the primary schools under the government, deficit, ad hoc and SSA.

The notification states – “those teachers who have been appointed as elementary school teachers on or after September 3, 2001, but have not fulfilled the minimum qualification of securing 45 per cent (as per NCTE norms) in the pre-university/HSSLC examination or its equivalent examination are required to appear the Higher Secondary School Leaving Certificate (HSSLC) examination, 2015 to meet the minimum qualification as specified by the NCTE.”

“This notification by the MBOSE has created a lot of confusion and insecurity amongst the teachers serving in the different primary schools across the state especially those teachers who were appointed before norms of the NCTE came in 2001 as there was no notification in this regard from the state government,” Khasi-Jaintia Deficit School Teachers’ Association (KJDSTA) president ED Nongsiang told reporters on Friday.

According to Nongsiang, MBOSE being a board which conducts school level examination cannot interfere into the recruitment aspect since this is a subject which lies with the state government for government schools and School Management Committee (SMC) for those schools under deficit and ad hoc system.

Nongsiang informed, “As per the guidelines on the recruitment of lower primary schoolteachers announced by the Commissioner  & Secretary of Education department in 2004 of which the notification was issued by Governor – it clearly stated that eligible lower primary schoolteachers are those who have cleared their HSSLC (Class XII).”

Apart from this, the 2004-notification has also stated that preference will also be given to candidates having diploma or certificate on basic teachers’ training.

However, the notification from the Directorate of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) issued in 2013 announced that the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE), an advisory board to the Government of India, has laid down norms for the recruitment of teachers in both lower primary and upper primary schools falling under the government, deficit and ad hoc system.

Nongsiang said the notification has directed the state government and the SMCs to recommend only those candidates who are XII passed and having 45 per cent aggregate with diploma in education for primary level and BA, B.Sc with special diploma in education or B.Ed for upper primary level.

Expressing opposition over the notification, Nongsiang said, “We strongly oppose this move to immediately implement such notification in the state in view of the fact that there have  been no notification from the state government informing about implementation of this system.”

Nongsiang questioned as to how the government can expect teachers who are already in service and who are very senior in this profession to  sit for an examination. He pointed out that the state government has the power to request the centre for relaxation in the cases of such teachers from the purview of the centre’s notification on NCTE norms.

Nongsiang said, “Therefore we request all the teachers not to feel insecure as the matter is yet to be clear from the part of the state government as well as the MBOSE is not the recruitment agency so far teachers appointment is concerned.”

Answering a query Nongsiang said he does not have the actual statistic to define the number of teachers who have cleared their HSSLC examination but have not fulfilled the NCTE norms but we believe that there are many of them.

According to Nongsiang, out of the 11447 lower primary teachers in the state, 6479 are under government schools, 3852 – deficit schools and 1116 – ad hoc schools excluding those working under the central funded SSA schools.

Demanding that the state government should come out clear on the issue, Nongsiang said, “We would agree if the state government implement the norms from now onwards without harassing the teachers already appointed for decades back.”

“We demand that the NCTE norms should not apply for those teachers who have been appointed long time back but instead offer them with only in-service trainings which are more logical,” Nongsiang said.

There are also speculations that if these teachers serving for many years failed the HSSLC examination to be held next year, their services would be terminated by the government.

Nongsiang argued that as the teachers have been appointed by the government, it cannot blame or harass them by saying they do not fulfill the NCTE norms and, thereby, the question of terminating their services does not arise.- By Our Reporter