Teacher posts: No R’sthan recognition for 107

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 31

For 107 Haryana youths aspiring to become teachers in Rajasthan, an order from the Elementary Education Department of that state rendering their degrees invalid has come as bolt from the blue.

Running from pillar to post to ensure that the chance to get the job doesn’t slip out of their hands, the youths fail to understand how their degree with English as compulsory subject is inferior to the one with it being an elective subject. This has been cited as the reason to term their degrees invalid.

“I cleared Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) and was waiting to get a job soon, but an order dated July 13 issued by the office of Director, Elementary Education, Rajasthan, has come as a bolt from the blue for me and many others. They have rendered our degree acquired from state universities of Haryana as invalid because we studied English as a compulsory subject and not as elective as they had prescribed. We have knocked on every door, but we are not getting justice,” alleged Sarvan Chahar, a candidate from Poli Mandori village of Fatehabad district.

He said most of the candidates affected by the decision had done their graduation from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, or Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak.

Sharing the concern of the candidates, Dr Bijender Kumar Punia, Vice-Chancellor of Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, termed the decision as surprising.

“On July 7, 2017, the Equivalence Committee of the University of Rajasthan had decided that students who pass their examination/ degrees from any state or central university of India will be considered at par with their degree,” Dr Punia said sharing a copy of the order.

He said that his university has taken up the matter with the Department of School Education, Bikaner Division, that as per the scheme of examination of BA I, II and III, English is being taught as a compulsory subject only.

Dr Punia said that his officials have also been giving certificate to the effect that “compulsory” English is equivalent to “elective” for all purposes with “To whom it may concern” as subject to all those approaching the university with this problem.

Kishan Dan Charan, an assistant director in the Elementary Education Department in Bikaner, Rajasthan, justified the decision.

“The Rajasthan Government had constituted a committee comprising experts on April 3 to decide the eligibility and equivalency of degrees of various universities. The committee comprising educationists from various universities of the state met on June 12 and took a decision that compulsory/ general/ foundation subjects cannot be considered equivalent to elective/ optional subjects,” said Charan.

He said that the committee arrived at its decision after considering the curricula of various universities, letters from UGC and various universities and the study of documents given by students.