Examiner Bureau | Srinagar:
The Jammu and Kashmir Government will move a resolution in the upcoming session of the J&K Legislative Assembly seeking support on the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) issue affecting in-service teachers, Education Minister Sakina Masood Itoo said on Saturday.
Itoo said the government had already approached the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of its order making TET qualification mandatory for in-service teachers teaching primary and upper-primary classes.
Addressing concerns among teachers, the minister said the issue had caused considerable anxiety and was beginning to affect the learning environment in schools.
“We have already gone to the honourable court. But the teachers are in a lot of depression. The children’s education is being disturbed. When a teacher is mentally disturbed, how can he teach children?” Itoo said.
The minister said the government viewed the matter not merely as an examination requirement but as an issue concerning the dignity and professional standing of teachers.
“For us, the most important thing is that the test doesn’t matter. This is a matter of a teacher’s honour,” she said, adding that teachers who prepare millions of children for examinations should not feel that their professional competence was being questioned.
Itoo said she would place the resolution before the Legislative Assembly once its session begins and seek its passage with majority support.
“I will bring a resolution. We will get that resolution passed in the majority, so that the teachers who are depressed can come out of their depression and teach children properly,” she said.
The issue follows the Supreme Court’s May 29 ruling, which made TET qualification mandatory for in-service teachers. The court, however, provided such teachers time until August 31, 2028, to qualify the examination and continue in service.
The ruling has triggered concern among a section of in-service teachers in Jammu and Kashmir, who have been seeking exemption from the TET requirement.
The government’s proposed Assembly resolution is expected to place the concerns of the teaching community before the House and seek wider support on the issue while the matter remains before the Supreme Court.
