Teachers confront CM over jobs

JAIPUR: Hundreds of pass-outs from state’s nursery teachers’ training institutes (NTT) came out on the roads on Wednesday evening and tried to block the path of chief minister Ashok Gehlot who was on his way to inaugurate an open garden theatre on JLN Marg.
Two of the agitating women managed to interrupt the CM at the entrance of the garden but were soon removed from the premises. They were assured of a hearing by the district collector on Thursday morning.
Nearly 15,000 NTT pass-outs had dreamt of getting Grade-III teacher jobs in schools but their eligibility conditions were changed by the state government in 2007. Ever since, they have been demonstrating and organising protests for restoration of original eligibility conditions or an approval for a bridge course, which makes their course equivalent to Basic School Teaching Certificate (BSTC).
“By cancelling our eligibility without any prior indication, the government has put our future on stake,” said Anita Raj, who has been leading the agitation. She said that they tried to meet the CM but the police did not allow. The families of most students had taken loans for the course hoping that the they could repay the money once their wards get selected. But now their hopes too lie shattered.
Another agitator said her father took a loan of Rs 25,000 from one of her relatives to fund her studies. “Before getting admitted to the college, everyone assured us that it was a job-oriented course and I would become a government teacher,” she said.
In fact, the current admissions forms of NTTs clarify that the course was not meant for Rajasthan Public Service Commision selection, though it was not the case till recently. NTT pass-outs were recruited as government teachers till 2005.
The two-year NTT course was introduced in 1984. It was only in 2007 that the course landed in a controversy and 14 teachers, who were selected through RPSC on the basis of the course, were relieved from service. Though they were restored after a few months of agitation, there appeared no hope for thousands of students, who are still undergoing the course in 28 institutes in the state. A committee constituted at that time had proposed for a bridge course to make it equivalent to BSTC but no further development took place.