School Edu: Teachers raise demand for cancellation of all illegal appointments

Dimapur, August 18 : A platform called the “All Nagaland Pre-Service Teacher Association” has demanded that the School Education department do away with “back-door appointment” (illegal appointments) and to instate open recruitment through open competitive examinations.

The ‘pre-service teacher’ (sic) issued a representation addressed to the commissioner & secretary and the director for School Education on August 18.

The group has sought cancellation of illegal appointments in the department and have placed before the authorities a 15-day period for redress.
‘We have all passed the Nagaland Teacher Eligibility Test conducted in the year 2013 and 2016, as such we are all eligible to be appointed as primary teachers in any school in Nagaland,” the organization claimed. They stated that a government advertisement dated 23-08-2013 had “categorically provided that ‘preference will be given to the professionally trained candidates with D.Ei.ED/C.P.T.E/B.ED/ ECCE/ELTI (or its equivalent) with at least one year professionally trained certificate.’”

Through said advertisement, the group said, “We were to be issued TET guidelines and syllabus on application as such all the criteria and conditions contained therein shall equally apply to all concern as part of the said advertisement.”

For the last several years, the association stated, “Your esteem authority” had been appointing primary teachers “through the back-door on contract/adhoc/temporary basis” and “without following the TET guidelines and/or without conducting any selection process.”

“…such pick and choose policy on your part have denied the right to equal opportunity for being considered for appointment to state service and in the process Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India have been grossly infringed,” the association stated.

The group has demanded ‘all such appointments’ to be immediately terminated; recruitment must now be undertaken as per the provisions of the Constitution of India and relevant laws, the representation stated.

Another complaint that the teachers raised was that no selection process ‘whatsoever for recruiting primary school teachers from amongst us have been undertaken till date’ in spite of ‘successfully getting through the Nagaland Teacher Eligibility Test.’

“Neither is it the case that any appointment has been made from amongst us on the basis of merit to the post of primary school teacher. That we have approached your esteem authorities on several occasions apprising you of our genuine grievance, however the same have fallen upon deaf ears,” the association stated.

The association also cited instances when the department allegedly contravened own notifications and encouraged ‘rampant back-door appointments without any selection process at the cost of our precious rights.’

The condition that recruitment of teachers would be made through the Teacher Eligibility Test has not been fulfilled till date either, the group stated.

“Therefore, all back-door appointments since 2013 must be set aside and recruitment must be conducted as per law,” the representation stated. “…it is respectfully stated that the mischief played is so widespread and rampant as such the whole selection/appointment deserves to be cancelled. That it may be noted that the entire back-door appointment of primary teachers is running into hundreds in number and the same is conceived in fraud and delivered in deceit as such the entire appointment needs to be set aside.”

The representation stated: ‘All back-door appointments made prior to the group’s acquiring TET qualification in 2013 and 2016 are all liable to be terminated as the same was not made by making advertisements in public domain and conducting open competitive examination.’

“It is stated that if only such an examination was conducted we would have been eligible to participate having passed 10+2 (pre- university) at the time the illegal back-door appointments were made.”

The association stated that in the event of failure in addressing the demand within a period of 15 days, the group would take a legal recourse.

The group also said that many schools in Nagaland were ‘languishing’ due to shortage of teachers especially for those in the villages. “No examinations to fill up many vacancies caused by the retirement of teachers in the primary schools has been conducted which is detrimental to public interest and the same compromises with the educational future of our nation in general, and our state in particular.”