Education minister Arvind Pandey meets HRD minister Prakash Javadekar

DEHRADUN: State education minister Arvind Pandey sought intervention of Union human resource development (HRD) minister Prakash Javadekar on Friday after the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) refused to approve the Special Basic Training Certificate (Vishist BTC) of Uttarakhand.
Over 13,000 primary school teachers in government schools in Uttarakhand hold a Special BTC which NCTE has refused to acknowledge.The NCTE said that after March 2019, all primary teachers who don’t have a diploma in elementary education (DLEd) or BTC certificate would be removed from primary teaching.
Talking to TOI after meeting the HRD minister in New Delhi on Friday, Pandey said, “Considering that over 13,000 primary government school teachers in our state would face unemployment if this situation is not promptly addressed and Special BTC is not recognised, we approached the HRD minister. We have been assured that he will look into the matter and soon a meeting between ministry officials and state education department officials to will take place. We were under the impression that a similar BTC is recognised in UP but we have been told that it is not the case.”
The teachers can enroll for a six-month bridge course from the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to be eligible to teach. The educators, however, said that they do not want to opt for it since after the course their previous experience may not count.
Satish Chandra, a special BTC trained teacher in Rishikesh, said, “I completed my special BTC in 2005 and have been teaching ever since. It is humiliating that one day all of a sudden we are declared untrained to teach. If I do this six-month course now, I will be, in a way, starting my career all over again and my experience will not count. It was the government which should have got recognition for the course in all these years, they are responsible, not us.”
Meanwhile, Prathmik Shikshak Sangh members in Dehradun will call a meeting in this regard. The association members are hoping that the education minister’s meeting with HRD ministry will bear some fruit else they may initiate an agitation.
V S Krishali, Dehradun district head of government primary teachers’ association, said, “NCTE has considered the special BTC like an in-service training. This would not have happened if officials in Uttarakhand had got it recognised earlier. Why should already trained teachers be asked to do a six-month-long bridge course? It is not justified. The government should press to get this course recognised.”