NHRC saves jobs of more than 2L graduates

CHENNAI: The intervention by the National Human Rights Commission, (NHRC) saved jobs of more than two lakh graduate and postgraduate upper primary level teachers in government/government aided and private unaided schools across the country as they did not have 50% marks in 12th standard.

Considering the recommendations of the Commission, the Union Ministry of Education, striking a balance between the statutory provisions and the right to life and livelihood, has given one-time relaxation from this norm to all those candidates, who have cleared Diploma in Elementary Education from the National Institute of Open School, NIOS, the NHRC in a release said.

This training was required for all the untrained in-service teachers as per the amendment in the year 2017 in the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act.

As per the guidelines of the National Council for Teacher Education, NCTE, the Union Ministry of Education handed over the responsibility to the NIOS to train these teachers by 31st March 2019. Several teachers completed their Diploma in Elementary Education, but NIOS did not release their diploma cum certificates of those, who did not have 50% marks in 12 standards, which may have cost them their jobs.

On receipt of a complaint in the matter, the Commission observed that the NIOS did not specify in its prospectus that the eligibility criteria for in-service graduate and postgraduate teachers to do the diploma in elementary education would be 50% marks in Class 12.

Further, the NHRC asked the Ministry of Education to revisit the whole issue, as it may adversely affect the right to livelihood of teachers, who are otherwise graduates or postgraduates, and have been in-service and even had cleared the requisite Diploma in Elementary Education as per statuary requirement of RTE Act and Rules framed there under.