HRD Ministry May Relax Norms For Teachers' Recruitment In Tripura

The Central government has assured Tripura that the state is likely to be granted one-time relaxation in qualifying marks and professional qualification for recruiting teachers to overcome the huge shortage of teachers, an official said here on Friday. "Union HRD (Human Resource Development) Minister Prakash Javadekar during a meeting with Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb in New Delhi on Thursday evening said that his ministry is actively considering the state government's proposal to grant the one-time relaxation in qualifying marks and exemption of professional qualification for recruiting teachers," an official of CM's secretariat, requesting anonymity, said.

He said, "The Union Minister told the Chief Minister that the HRD Ministry's decision in this regard shall be taken in the best interest of the state of Tripura at the earliest."

"Biplab Deb told Prakash Javadekar that if the HRD Ministry did not relax the academic and other qualifications of teachers as laid down by the NCTE (National Council For Teacher Education), the state would not be able to recruit 12,222 teachers," the official said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has earlier urged the HRD ministry for a one-time relaxation in academic and other qualifications to facilitate recruitment of 12,222 teachers to overcome their huge shortage in the state.

Biplab Deb also recently met Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Nripendra Mishra in New Delhi and took up the teachers' recruitment issue. According to the Right of the Child to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act of 2009 and NCTE guidelines, Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) is mandatory for recruitment of teachers in government schools.

To appear for the TET, the candidate ought to have 50 per cent marks in certain subjects and a Bachelor's degree or Diploma in Elementary Education or Diploma in Education. The HRD Ministry had earlier relaxed the minimum qualification norms for teachers, as notified by the NCTE, for Assam and West Bengal.

The teachers' recruitment was a key political issue ahead of the February 18 Assembly elections in Tripura as the Supreme Court had upheld a Tripura High Court verdict to terminate the services of 10,323 government teachers on the ground of discrepancies during the rule of the Left Front government. The apex court, which had earlier extended the ad-hoc service of the 10,323 teachers, would hold the next hearing of the cases of the teachers early next month.