Over 9.58 lakh untrained teachers get certified

Over 9.58 lakh untrained serving teachers have acquired the minimum qualification required for teaching in elementary schools, with the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) on Wednesday declaring the results of a special diploma programme conducted in open and distance learning mode.

Nearly 2.50 lakh teachers, who underwent the online diploma programme conducted by the NIOS, failed to pass in their final examination.

More than 12.11 lakh in service teachers were enrolled to the 18-month duration diploma in elementary education (D El Ed) programme launched by the NIOS at the instruction of the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry.

Over 70% of the teachers who successfully completed the programme were from private schools, NIOS chairman C B Sharma said, announcing the results.

The HRD Ministry had ordered for conducting the special diploma programme in open and distance learning mode for the in-service teachers in 2017 to help them acquire the minimum qualification needed for teaching in elementary schools by March 31 this year.

These teachers were on the verge of losing their jobs as the Right to Education (RTE) Act stipulates that a candidate must have a diploma in elementary education (D El Ed) in order to be recruited for the job.

They were deployed in teaching jobs at elementary schools across the country for years in violation of the RTE Act, 2009 even as the law required them to acquire the basic teaching qualification by March 31, 2015.

For all these years, the HRD ministry kept on requesting the state governments to provide these teachers in-service training and ensure that they acquire minimum qualification for teaching in elementary schools.

Most of the states, however, remained indifferent to the Ministry's request.

Untrained teachers swung into action and registered for the NIOS D El Ed programme only after the Ministry fixed “a final deadline” for acquiring basic qualification as March 31, 2019. For this, the RTE Act was amended by Parliament.

Of over 9.58 lakh teachers who were declared as passed in special D EI Ed programme, the NIOS has withheld the certificates of a total of 1.90 lakh teachers as they are required to take the class XII board examination once again and secure a minimum 50% marks.

“We will conduct class XII board examination for these teachers. After they secure a minimum 50% marks in the examination, their D EI Ed certificates will be released,” NIOS chairperson said.