COIMBATORE: The Tamil Nadu B.Ed Computer Science Unemployed Graduate Teachers Association has objected to the move of the School Education Department to appoint candidates in the post of Computer Instructors (CIs) in over 7,000 middle schools across the state through a private firm instead of appointing unemployed graduate teachers.
Association general secretary V Kumareshan told TNIE, "With the notification for setting up hi-tech labs middle schools, we hoped that the government would appoint unemployed graduate teachers at schools. We submitted many petitions with the school education department officers, stressing that they should appoint unemployed graduate teachers in the post of CI."
"But, the school education department handed over the project to a private firm to fill the post in the government schools. Now, the private firm has started receiving applications from the candidates' district-wise discreetly through NGOs. In some places, some NGOs collected money from the applicants by giving assurance that they will be given a job. As a result, unemployed computer teachers who have been waiting for a teaching job for a decade and who wished to get a CI job would suffer mentally," he said.
The recruits by the private firm will get a consolidated pay, said sources.
Kumareshan wanted the state government to appoint unemployed computer teachers to these posts at schools through direct recruitment instead of relying on private firms.
G Manimaran, an unemployed computer science teacher in Coimbatore, told TNIE, "In 2011, the DMK government took the step to launch Computer Science subject from classes 1 to 10. We hoped to get teacher jobs in schools. After the AIADMK came to power, it stopped the implementation of the Computer Science subject."
"In 2021, former school education minister KA Sengottaiyan had assured the legislative assembly that the Computer Science subject would be implemented from classes 6 to 10 in government schools. But, it was not executed. As a result, unemployed computer science teachers are in distress without a job," he recalled.
The government should give at least this job to them, said Kumareshan.
D Revathi, another teacher in Coimbatore, told TNIE that under the supervision of the Chief Educational Officer, headmasters appointed temporary teachers against vacancies in schools from the primary to higher-secondary level.
"But, the CI post would be filled this time through a private agency and it would affect our job opportunities," she expressed her concern.
When asked about it, a top officer of the Directorate of Elementary Education told TNIE,"Tender has been given to a Kerala-based government firm to set up the lab at middle schools. This firm would appoint the candidates to the post. The process is underway."
Repeated attempts to reach the school education secretary J Kumaragurubaran went in vain.