Education department is working on a two pronged strategy to provide relief to special Basic Teacher Certificate (BTC) qualified primary teachers. Under pressure from the teacher organisations, the department has embarked on a plan to persuade the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) to grant recognition to the Special BTC courses which the District Institutes of Education and Training (DIET) had conducted during the period 2001 to 2016. The department is also planning to take the issue to the High Court as it feels that the NCTE too is at fault on the issue as it paid no heed on repeated requests of the education department to grant recognition. “We are keeping both the options open. In this matter the NCTE too showed compliancy as it failed to respond to the communication the state education department did with it. The department is requesting the NCTE to grant similar concession it granted to the teachers of Uttar Pradesh. We are also seeking legal opinion to take the guidance from the court,’’ said one senior officer of education department.
The jobs of more than 13000 Special BTC qualified teachers in Uttarakhand are at stake due to an order by the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry which has made it clear that by year 2019 all untrained primary teachers should compulsorily complete the Diploma in Elementary Education (DElEd) course (earlier termed BTC). To the chagrin of these teachers it was learnt that due to tardiness of the education department officers the Special BTC course conducted by DIETs, are not recognized by the National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE).
The apex body of teacher education has told the education department of Uttarakhand in no uncertain terms that it cannot grant recognition in retrospection .
As a way out these teachers were offered by the State education department that they should undergo, a six month bridge course offered by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
However under pressure from the agitated association of Primary teachers, the Prathemik Shikshak Sangh (PSS) most of these teachers have not registered for the bridge course, the last date of which after two extensions is ending on December 31. The NIOS on its part has made it clear that the bridge course is one time affair and it would not extend the registration date further.
However the teachers are pinning their hopes on the state education minister Arvind Pandey who had repeatedly assured them that a way out of the tangle would soon be found. The association of the teachers is also meeting the Member of Parliament from the state and putting the issue before them for taking up the matter with the Union Government.