Large scale recruitment of educated, unemployed youth as teachers in government schools is a favourite electoral sop of most governments before the Assembly elections, something which the National Council for Teacher Education (Amendment) Bill, 2010 is at loggerheads with.
Objections to the Bill–which seeks to standardise teacher training across the country and regulate teacher training institutes—have come in from poll-going states like West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.
The Bill was introduced in the Budget session and has been referred to the Standing Committee on Human Resource Development. The main provisions of the Bill include the minimum required marks for eligibility in B Ed and for teachers in primary schools across the country.
The West Bengal government had in October last year advertised recruitment of 58,000 teachers in primary schools with just a matriculation as eligibility. This invited objections from the Centre but since the previously existing NCTE Act had been successfully challenged by the Uttar Pradesh government in court, nothing much could be done. The UP government had reduced the eligibility criterion for taking B.Ed entrance exams from 50% in class XII to 45%.
?This amendment to standardise teacher?s education across the country has been brought in to circumvent the Allahabad High Court judgement,? said a source in the HRD ministry. ?Basically, to prevent arbitrary lowering of eligibility crietrion as and when it is politically convenient,? he added. ?West Bengal?s anxiety is understandable since the state is going for polls in 2011,? said the source.
?Now, the West Bengal government has again written to us saying that the Centre was infringing on the right of the state government as education is a concurrent subject,? said a source. ?Some Left MPs have also given a representation to the ministry saying that regulation will stifle the growth of teacher training institutes,? said the source.