By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Oct 9: The Assam B.Ed Teacher’s Association has expressed displeasure with the State Education ministry’s decision to make Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) compulsory for B.Ed qualified candidates for teachers recruitment at High School level. The Association has also threatened to approach the High Court if the Government does not roll back its decision and relax the B.Ed candidates from writing the examination.

In a press statement, the Association president Ashiruddin Talukdar said, “In the B.Ed course, one is given training on all aspects of teaching. One is not only taught about teaching methodologies and child pedagogy but is also given administrative skills. The examination also scrutinizes a candidate from all angles before giving them the degree.”

He said, given the kind of training imparted to teachers during the B.Ed course, TET is not necessary. “The B.Ed degree itself suggests that a person is fully qualified to teach at High Schools level. Making TET compulsory would only lower the importance of the course,” he said. The Association further protested against the government’s decision to keep 50 per cent score during graduation as the criteria for appearing in the examination. Talukdar said that with this norm, having a B.Ed degree will not be enough. For this recruitment, all the interested candidates have to face Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).

 Stating that the 50 percent criteria is not justifiable, the Association president said, “Even competitive examinations like IAS do not keep such criteria. Students securing less than 50 per cent in their graduation, have qualified such competitive examinations.”

The Association further urged the government to relax B.Ed qualified candidates from writing TET, remove the basic 50 per cent criteria for appearing in TET and to raise the age limit from 38 years to 50 years for High School.

Talukdar informed that although a memorandum has been sent to the Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, there has been no response from their part to make changes in the TET module. The Association warned that if the government does not act in this regard at the earliest, the Association would be forced to approach the High Court and take the path of agitation in the coming days.