Education minister on fresh SC guidelines

Srinagar, May 4: In a significant development, the minister for education Sakina Itoo on Sunday said the government will come to the rescue of the in-service Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) teachers asked to pass TET within three years.

The statement comes in wake of the fresh orders of the Supreme Court directing the J&K government to issue appointment orders to candidates selected under the erstwhile Rehbar-e-Taleem (ReT) scheme, citing that closure of scheme cannot retrospectively deprive empanelled candidates of their rights.

The court directed the J&K government to complete the process within eight weeks, bringing relief to hundreds of aspirants whose appointments were stalled following the closure of the ReT scheme in November 2018.

The apex court has however imposed strict conditions that all such appointees must acquire the minimum qualifications prescribed by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), including clearing the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), within three years and a maximum of three attempts. The Court further said the directions would apply to all similarly situated candidates appointed under the ReT scheme after August 23, 2010, who do not yet possess the prescribed qualifications.

 Under these circumstances, all the Ret Teachers appointed post August 23 of 2010 have to pass the TET to continue their services in the School Education Department (SED). The move has left the teaching fraternity, falling under this group, in a state of despair.

Amid this, minister for education Sakina Itoo told Greater Kashmir that the government will file a writ petition in Court and seek a relief for the in-service ReT teachers. “It does not look good to ask teachers to appear in exam who are already teaching students for more than a decade now. The government will come forward to help them like we help other employees of different government departments,” she told Greater Kashmir. She further said that such decisions bring disrepute and humiliation to the fraternity. “These teachers have been taking exams of thousands of students over these years and now they are being asked to appear in exam themselves,” she said. The education minister said they will come up with a mechanism to help these ReT teachers, falling under this category. “The matter will be discussed in the department,” she told Greater Kashmir.