As many as 2,338 lecturers in government pre-university (PU) colleges have not obtained BEd degrees as per rules as the Department of PU Education is awaiting clearance from the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to allow them to enrol for BEd courses through correspondence.
Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education G Kumar Naik had written to Amarjit Singh, additional secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, in April 2012, seeking exemption from entrance examinations for government PU lecturers for admissions into BEd courses through correspondence. However, neither the ministry nor the NCTE, the apex teacher regulator, has responded.
“Our department has entered into an MoU with the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) in November last year. Even the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNU) is okay with having our lecturers enrol for BEd through correspondence. The only problem is that we have not received permission from the NCTE for entrance exam exemption,” said an official from the department.
Out of the 2,298 lecturers who were recruited through the Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) in July 2009. Only 839 lecturers had completed BEd. As many 112 of them completed BEd within four years of the probationary period, leaving 1,347 lecturers without the mandatory BEd qualification. From the recent lot of 1,764 appointees, 991 lecturers do not have BEd degree.
The total number of working teachers in 1,202 government PU colleges in the state is 11,550 (including the latest 1,764 appointees) out of 12,700 sanctioned posts.
The ‘mandatory BEd requirement’ clause has been a bone of contention between the lecturers and the department ever since the cadre and recruitment rules were amended in February 2008. According to this clause, a lecturer should have a Master’s degree at least in second class and should obtain BEd degree within four years of appointment “at (his or her) own cost.”
The rules also state that if the lecturers fail to obtain BEd degrees within four years of their probationary period, they would be discharged from service.
“Most of the appointees are posted in the C zone, which is rural. We haven’t discharged anyone keeping the interest of students in mind,” the official said.
Manjunath S, organising secretary of the Karnataka State PU College Teachers Association, said the department has not declared the probationary period for lecturers who have more than five years (of experience) now. “We are ready to obtain BEd degrees,” he said.
“But it is not our fault that the department has delayed giving us a platform to do it. Either declare the probation period, hold our increments or fasten the process and allow us to get our BEd degrees,” he noted.