Legal fight and democratic agitation to go side by side: TET-qualified teachers

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: All Assam Primary TET Qualified Teachers’ Association decided to fight a legal war against the state government if the latter does any injustice to them in the name of regulation of their posts. The association will carry out its democratic movement in support of other demands.

The association took this decision at its extended executive committee meeting held in Guwahati on Sunday.

Association president Trailokya Deka said, “The government recruited the TET-qualified candidates as teachers in a transparent way under the Right to Education Act in 2012. The government should have regularized our jobs at the time of the appointment. Instead of doing that, the government appointed us on a contractual basis. Of course, since 2013, the government has been paying us according to the ROP like other regular teachers in the state. After that, following a directive from the Education Department, we acquired the NCTE (National Council for Teachers Education) norms. After fulfilling the NCTE norms, the government assured us of regularizing our jobs, but to no avail. On the pretext of legal hurdles, the government stopped short of regularizing our jobs and almost regularized our posts, allowing us to continue to be in the service up to the age of 60, barring the pension benefits.”

Deka said, “After repeated pleas from our end, the Chief Minister made an announcement in his 2023 Independence Day speech that the government would regularize the jobs of contractual teachers. However, in his meeting with teachers on December 7, 2023, the Chief Minister gave two options: regularization of jobs with fresh appointments with the starting pay package or continuation of contractual service while keeping the current pay package intact. We submitted memoranda to the Chief Minister and the Prime Minister against this decision, but the government issued a notification asking us to respond to it by January 30, 2024. We have no way out but to move the high court that stayed the government notification on January 29.

Of course, a section of teachers has responded positively to the government notification. We will fight against this injustice being meted out to us. We want unconditional regularization of our posts.”

 Also read: All Assam Primary TET-qualified teachers bring changes in agitation

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