The Odisha government has asked District Education Officers to furnish number of untrained elementary teachers working in the government and private schools of the State based on a directive of the Central government.
Recently, the Centre asked the State government to file detailed information about the untrained elementary teachers engaged in various schools in the State within three days.
Following the direction, the School and Mass Education Department of has shot letters to the DEOs to submit the details in format prescribed by the Government of India.
As per Right to Education Act, it is mandatory for teachers to have educational qualification. However, there are still many untrained teachers in the State. Question marks have often been raised over the educational qualification of many teachers. This could be the reason why the Centre has asked the State government to furnish detailed information about it, said experts.
“While some SC and ST candidates were appointed under different circumstances in the past, many of them have not yet completed their training. We want to know what the exact number of untrained elementary teachers in the State is,” said School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash.
Few years back, training program for some teachers was organized following their appointment. However, many of them could not attend the programme due to some reasons. Due to the scarcity of science teachers, some of the science graduates were appointed as teachers on the basis of their marks. Earlier, untrained teachers were provided summer course training. However, the programme has been stopped. The teachers and parents associations have expressed resentment over the development.
“Odisha government is not at all concerned about the problem. The State government is only writing letters every year and doing nothing to address it. It seems to be less perturbed about the career of the students,” said Utkal Abhibabaka Sangha President Krushnachandra Pati.
Similarly, Odisha Secondary School Teachers' Association (OSSTA) Secretary Prakash Mohanty said, “There should be a proper system for the training of untrained teachers. Earlier, training was imparted through summer course. This kind of a proper system should be in place."