Ranchi: Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) Passed assistant teachers stage a protest during Ghearo of Jharkhand CM House in Ranchi on Saturday. Almost 60,000 Assistant Teachers are protesting against Jharkhand Government’s policy. Out of these, 14042 teachers are such, who also have the certificate of Jharkhand Teacher Eligibility Test. These teachers are talking about pay scale instead of honorarium on the basis of their teacher eligibility and 20 years of experience.
With this demand, thousands of assistant teachers came out to encircle the Chief Minister’s residence under the prescribed program. They gathered at the historical Morhabadi Maidan. Then from there went out to surround the house. But they were not allowed to besiege the CM’s residence. The police administration stopped them near Morhabadi TOP. After this, all the teachers sat there and raised slogans.
Later their gherao program turned into a gathering. A delegation was called for talks on behalf of the Jharkhand State Tet Assistant Teacher Coordination Committee on behalf of the administration. According to the letter sent to the CM by the Jharkhand State Tet Assistant Teacher Coordination Committee, the assistant teachers of the state have been serving continuously for 20 years. They also fulfill the eligibility of new education policy and NCTE. Even after this they are being given honorarium.
According to the assistant teachers, the Jharkhand government’s advocate general in the report submitted to the government has recommended pay scale to JET pass assistant teachers. There is no legal hurdle in this. The union says that in the past several high-level committees have recommended direct pay scales to Tet pass assistant teachers, but till date, assistant teachers have been denied pay scales. The only demand of teachers is that pay scale should be given to 14042 Tet pass assistant teachers before advertisement of assistant professor appointment.
The union says that we have grounds for demanding pay scales. According to him, 14,042 qualified assistant teachers can be directly accommodated on the 25,000 seats reserved for mercury teachers against the vacant 50,000 assistant professor posts in the state. According to the advice of the Jharkhand Law Department, the pay scale can be given to Tet successful assistant teachers.
In the high-level committee meeting on 9 June 2020, it was recommended to give a direct pay scale to Tet pass assistant teachers. In the high-level committee meeting on 7 August 2021, a draft was prepared to give direct pay scales to Tet pass assistant teachers. The pay scale is also mentioned in the draft of the Bihar Rules Drafting Committee on 18 August 2021.
According to the assistant teachers, the pay scale has been given to the teachers already working in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Punjab, and Tripura. The post category committee had given consent to adjust the qualified and experienced teachers working in the new posts.
On December 14, 2021, in the talks between the then Education Minister and the office bearers, a written agreement was made on further discussion on the pay scale. Based on these arguments, TET successful assistant teachers can be directly accommodated in the assistant teacher recruitment process.