COIMBATORE: With deadline looming for BEd graduates to submit their applications for recruitment of teachers for 1,996 vacancies in government schools, thousands of students are caught in a quandary.
The Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University (TNTEU) has not issued their consolidated mark sheet and provisional certificate even after a delay of more than a year.
According to sources, more than 60,000 students who had completed their two-year course (2022-2024) in May last year in 642 government and private teacher colleges across the state have not got their course credentials yet.
These students may not be able to submit their application within the August 12 deadline fixed by the Teacher Recruitment Board (TRB) for filling the 1,996 postgraduate teacher posts.
NET/SLET Association advisor AR Nagaraj told TNIE that UGC had already directed higher education institutions to award degree, mark sheet and other certificates to students within 180 days of declaration of result, but the Tamil Nadu Higher Education Department is casual in complying with the UGC’s stipulation.
This affects students as they cannot get jobs, pursue higher education, or sit for competitive exams. “Officials must address this issue of recurring delay expeditiously,” Nagaraj said.
“Apart from the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) post, the posts of registrar and controller of examinations too have not been filled in TNTEU for more than five years. Hence, teaching staff of the university have been appointed to these posts in
in-charge capacity. These staff cannot make any financial and academic decisions independently. As a result of this, administration and academic works are affected. The state should at least fill these key posts with regular appointments,” Nagaraj added.
‘Steps will be taken to issue mark sheets & certificates’
A teaching staff from a private BEd college in Coimbatore told TNIE that after the recruitment notification, several old students have started visiting the college requesting certificates. “There has been no communication from the TNTEU about issuing the certificates.
But to keep things under control, we are telling students that documents will be issued soon. It has become a headache for colleges,” he said.
“Earlier, TNTEU issued mark sheets and provisional certificates within three months of publication of results. But for candidates who passed out last year, certificates have not been issued even after a year,” the teaching staff said.
C Poornima of Salem, who completed the BEd programme with Physics as her specialisation at a government college in 2022-2024, told TNIE, “As per the TRB notification, candidates must start uploading their applications on the board’s portal from Thursday. When applying for the recruitment exam, we must upload consolidated mark sheets of all semesters and a degree certificate or provisional certificate. Only then will TRB accept our application.”
“Since TNTEU has not issued the mark sheet and provisional certificate, I cannot apply for the TRB exam. If the TNTEU delays the issuance of documents any further, several candidates would miss the opportunity to apply for the exam”, Poornima added.
When contacted, TNTEU Registrar (in charge) K Rajasekaran told TNIE that steps would be taken to issue mark sheets and provisional certificates to all the students within seven working days.