Over 40,000 contractual teachers protest education minister's 'driver' remark

GUWAHATi: Thousands of contractual teachers took to the streets in the district headquarters across Assam on Tuesday in protest against a recent remark by education minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya in which he had compared Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) certificates with driving licenses that have to be periodically renewed. Holding placards and shouting slogans, over 40,000 contractual teachers joined in the protest, demanding regularization of their jobs and threatening to launch a 'Dispur Gherao' on June 29.
Bhattacharya, during a phone-in programme hosted by the All India Radio last Thursday, had said that TET teachers, who got their teaching certificates more than five years ago, need to have their documents renewed, just like driving licenses. The remark had led to strong protests, with thousands of TET-qualified teachers adding the prefix 'Driver' to their profile names on social media.
"We have given a 10-day ultimatum to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal to consider our demand of regularizing the services of all 40,000 teachers, who were engaged as contractual instructors under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in a phase-wise manner. If no step is taken to unconditionally regularize our services with pay protection, then all the contractual, TET-qualified teachers of Assam will launch a Dispur Gherao protest on June 29," said Troloikya Deka, working president of Sodou Asom Prathamik TET Uttirna Sikhyak Samaj, a coordination committee of TET-qualified primary teachers which is leading the statewide protest.
The representatives of the organization sent memoranda to Sonowal through their respective deputy commissioners, calling for regularization of jobs of all the contractual teachers.
Condemning Bhattacharya's remark, the organization, in an earlier statement, had said, "The education minister has demeaned the qualification certificates of the TET teachers by comparing them with driving licenses. If Bhattacharyya cannot give due respect to the teachers, this will destroy the education sector. He has failed in carrying out his responsibilities."
Over 40,000 TET-qualified teachers are working on a contractual basis in the state now. Regularization of their jobs was one of the primary poll promises of BJP ahead of the 2016 assembly polls.
The protesting teachers also said on Tuesday that they are unwilling to sit for the TET once again. The exam will be held again in September this year, with the decision having raised concerns among the instructors who have already qualified TET but are still working on a contractual basis.
TET was last held in Assam in 2014, with 90,043 candidates having cleared the examination. It was held for the first time in Assam in 2012. A total of 52,772 candidates had cleared the test that year, with 26,100 of them granted employment in a phased manner.
At the elementary level, TET certificates are valid for seven years as per National Council for Teacher Education guidelines. But, the 40,000-odd contractual teachers, 80% of whom had qualified TET in 2012, are worried over their dwindling prospects of job regularization after the validity of their TET certificates ended in March this year. Without a valid TET certificate, the contractual teachers will not be eligible to apply for regular teaching jobs, unless the government makes a special consideration for them.
The All Assam Students' Union (Aasu) has, meanwhile, also sought an apology from the education minister for his recent remark. Aasu chief Samujjal Bhattacharyya said, "The TET-qualified teachers have been dedicatedly teaching students for so many years. Many demeaning remarks against them is totally unacceptable."