Garhwal Post Bureau
Haridwar, 17 Jul: Thousands of primary school teachers under the banner of the Uttaranchal State Primary Teachers Association (USPTA), Haridwar, staged a protest on Friday, demanding exemption from the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) for teachers appointed before the implementation of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) notification dated August 23, 2010. The association also renewed its demand for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
Following a demonstration and a march from the Development Building to the Haridwar Collectorate, the teachers submitted a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister and the Union Minister of Education through Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Jitendra Kumar, urging the Union Government to take immediate legislative and policy measures to safeguard the interests of long-serving teachers.
Teachers from all development blocks of Haridwar district gathered in large numbers before proceeding towards the Collectorate, raising slogans in support of their demands. Addressing the gathering, District President Ashwani Chauhan, District Treasurer Arvind Kumar Sharma, and District Minister Hemendra Chauhan said that the recent judicial developments concerning the compulsory TET requirement had created uncertainty and anxiety among thousands of teachers who had been appointed through valid recruitment procedures long before TET became a statutory qualification.
The leaders argued that applying the TET requirement retrospectively to teachers appointed before the enforcement of the RTE Act and the NCTE notification would violate the principles of natural justice, legitimate expectation, and equality before law. They maintained that these teachers had fulfilled all recruitment norms applicable at the time of their appointment and had been serving the education system with dedication and competence for many years.
The memorandum urged the Central Government to introduce suitable legislative and administrative measures exempting pre-2010 appointees from the TET requirement. It also sought appropriate clarification or amendments through the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to ensure a uniform and equitable policy across all states.
In addition, the association reiterated its demand for the restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), stating that social and financial security for teachers and government employees should remain a policy priority.
Receiving the memorandum, Additional District Magistrate Jitendra Kumar assured the delegation that it would be forwarded to the Prime Minister and the Union Ministry of Education for appropriate consideration.
Among those present were Ashwani Chauhan, Hemendra Chauhan, Arvind Kumar Sharma, Rajeev Sharma, Mukesh Chauhan, Manmohan, Pankaj Bishnoi, Anil Chamoli, Kehar Singh, Praveen Kumar, Kuldeep, Babloo Adhana, Vikas Sharma, Sukhbir Saini, Pravindra, Alok Sharma, Iqbal Ahmad, Shalini Goswami, Noopur Sharma, Anjesh, Veer Singh, Amrish Verma, Ishwar Singh, Kavita Sharma, Sarita Tyagi, Pratibha Saini, along with a large number of teachers from across the district.
The association warned that, if the government failed to address the demands of serving teachers at the earliest, it would intensify its agitation at both the state and national levels. It asserted that the campaign to protect teachers’ service rights, dignity, and job security would continue until a just and equitable resolution is achieved.
