Jaipur: A two-day Shikshak Sammelan started in the state Friday with teachers discussing their issues. These will be submitted to the state govt Saturday. Teachers demanded that the department urgently arrange temporary facilities to replace dilapidated school buildings that were demolished. Other demands include prompt transfer and promotion of Grade III teachers, exemption from non-academic duties, and an increase in honorarium for invigilation duties during competitive exams held on holidays.Teachers also raised concerns over schools being upgraded till Class 12, but staff not being assigned as per the subjects available in the school, affecting classroom education. The Rajasthan Shikshak Sangh Ekikrit said that their key demands include implementing a teacher transfer policy modelled like the Kendriya Vidyalayas, conducting pending Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) proceedings for Grade III teachers, granting formal postings to principals and vice-principals currently serving in an officiating capacity, among other demands.Vipin Prakash Sharma, state president of Rajasthan Primary and Secondary Teachers Association, said there should be clarity about Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) to qualify for future promotions.“Over 80,000 teachers appointed in various years prior to 2012 are currently working in Rajasthan but have not passed TET, either in the form of RTET or REET. This is because the Teacher Eligibility Test was only introduced in state in 2011. For all teachers who were recruited as per govt rules, the govt must withdraw the mandatory TET requirement,” said Sharma.The Rajasthan Shikshak Sangh (Siyaram), another teachers’ organisation, called for 10% ‘hard duty allowance’ for primary elementary education officers (PEEOs) and urban cluster elementary education officers (UCEEOs) and emphasised that moral and value-based education among children be given importance.
