All Nagaland Government Primary Teachers’ Association (ANGPTA) has urged the state government to formulate state specific plan while implementing the Parliament Amendment Act Section 23(2) of the Right to Education.
According to the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2017, every teacher appointed/ in position as on March 2015, who do not posses minimum qualifications as laid down under sub-section (1), would have to acquire such minimum qualifications within a period of four years.
Minister school education, Tokheho Yepthomi, had recently said it has been made mandatory that no untrained teachers would be allowed to continue in service including the government aided private schools beyond Match 31, 2019.
In a representation addressed to the minister school education, the ANGPTA president, James Ruokuoselhou; vice president, T.Along Changkiri; Treasurer, Akaho Yepthomi, and information secretary, Imchanuchet Jamir, opined that the requisite 50% marks at higher secondary level for admission to D.El.Ed. course for in-service teachers must be scrapped as the department had never applied this criterion while giving appointment to the elementary teachers.
ANGPTA pointed out that till around the year 2000, the government allowed people with matriculate and below qualifications to be appointed as primary teachers in some of the backward areas of the state. In this regard, the association maintained its stand that all the primary teachers currently serving under the department of school education should be grouped under the same category and be allowed to undergo the D.EL.Ed. training within the stipulated time period.
ANGPTA also stated that the condition to complete higher secondary level course through NIOS concurrently with the professional course must not be applied in Nagaland.
Further, asserting that number of untrained teachers was very high and cannot be accommodated for trainings at the SCERT and DIETs within the stipulated time, the association appealed for making alternative arrangements by means of identifying and empowering few selected EBRCs in each districts to function as D.El.Ed. centres.