‘We have to pick best among those selected, can’t take all’

Why are the ETT-TET and the BEd-qualified TET teachers protesting against the state government?

The problem is that the TET-qualified unemployed candidates desire that recruitment be done as per their terms and from the dates they qualified. We cannot allow that. We have to ensure the filling of vacancies in a transparent and phased manner. The TET-qualified unemployed youth want that we fill all the 12,000 vacancies on the basis of the TET exam they qualified earlier, which is not possible.

Read also: Why the stick for aspiring Punjab teachers

They are also illogically demanding increasing the maximum age from 37 to 42 years.

What solution is the government working out to end the crisis?

We are constantly working to strike a balance between the candidates' aspirations and the provisions under the Right to Education Act. Under the RTE and National Council for Technical Education (NCTE) guidelines, the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) is required to be held every year. The score is valid for seven years.

During these exams, as many as 32,656 candidates have qualified over the years and at present as many as 26,151 among them are eligible to apply against these posts. We are left with no choice but to pick the best among those selected in the TET. We cannot take all of them.

What do you think could be the way forward?

Our department is open to sympathetically consider the genuine demands of the unemployed youth. The government has accepted some of them already. We recently amended the rules to fulfill their major demand of allowing candidates who have obtained the ETT degree only after passing Plus Two examination up to March 31, 2022. We have also relaxed the condition of obtaining 55 per cent marks in graduation till March 31, 2022. The unemployed youth should shun the path of agitation.

What about allowing an increase in the maximum age requirement?

As regards increasing the maximum age from 37 to 42 years, it is not related only with the Education Department. This provision finds mention in the common condition rules of the government. We cannot take a call on the issue independently.

Can you deny that students in Punjab are incurring a huge academic loss in the absence of teachers?

Punjab is among the states having the best teacher-student ratios in the country. During the past three years, the Education Department and its teachers with the help of active cooperation from the community have changed the face of schools, as visible all around. The improvement in the quality of education in government schools has led to a mentionable increase of students in government schools. At many places, parents have pulled out their children from private schools. — TNS

Teacher Eligibility Test has courted controversy often since it was introduced in 2011. Those who qualified feel they have been at the receiving end for no fault of theirs. Some voices:

WE WERE BEATEN UP FOR DEMANDING WHAT WE DESERVE

Gurpreet Singh, 33

A resident of Kheri Kalan village in Dhuri block of Sangrur district, Gurpreet Singh was seriously injured during police action on November 24 last year. He was part of a protest outside the Education Minister’s residence in Sangrur.

Gurpreet, who qualified the TET in 2017, got eight stitches on his head after he was cane-charged by the police. He was bedridden for a month. His wife, Amandeep Kaur, who had also cleared TET, fractured her left arm during the same agitation.

The injuries meant the couple was unable to take tuition, their only source of income, for a long time. “Earlier, we were a resentful lot. But after the police action, I have developed hatred for the government and police. Firstly, we were left jobless by the very government that had promised ‘Ghar Ghar Rozgar’ and then we were beaten up by the police for demanding what we deserve,” he said.

IF YOU DON’T AGITATE, just NO ONE TAKES NOTICE

Gurjeet Kaur, 30

As general secretary, Gurjeet — a double MA and NET qualified — has led many agitations of the BEd-TET Pass Unemployed Teacher Union. She was seriously injured and got unconscious during a protest in Sangrur.

Gurjeet believes agitation is the only way to get demands met. “It has become a new normal; if you don’t agitate, no one takes notice of your issues. Moreover, when the Chief Minister is not accessible to his own party MLAs, how can he meet aspiring teachers?”

She said they had waited for years for jobs to be advertised before they resorted to protests. “Despite being highly qualified, we are without jobs.”

A job will end poverty my family has endured for so long

Makhan Singh, 30

Makhan Singh says his dreams to come out of poverty, which his family has endured for decades together, were dashed when the Punjab government advertised just 2,182 posts for the thousands of BEd-TET pass candidates.

An MA in History and Punjabi, he works at a brick-kiln near his native village Sheron in Sangrur. “I had to take loans to complete BEd and MEd. How do I repay? It is not that I am sitting idle. I work endlessly. My situation, I think, confirms the saying: the poor will always be poor even when he gets an education. A job will end the poverty of my family for generations to come.” — Karam Prakash in Patiala

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