DIMAPUR, AUGUST 12 (MExN): The All Nagaland Graduate Teachers Forum (ANGTF) has reiterated its demand that the Limited Departmental Examination (LDE) wherein 20% of AHM/JEO would be recruited through NPSC exam should be put on hold till such time the ongoing revision of Nagaland School Education Service Rules 2017 is completed.
A press release from the forum reaffirmed its stand that the posts of AHM/JEO in the department are the promotional posts to be filled up through promotion of GTs with B.Ed on seniority. It said that the said posts of AHM/JEO are not to be recruited through NPSC exam or by any other agencies other than through promotion of GTs with professional degree.
It stressed that the posts of AHM/JEO in the department are “exclusively for the GTs and cannot be shared with anyone who comes on the way.” “Since the present exercise of LDE is a clear case of encroachment of GTs promotional avenues amounting to infringement of personal rights, all the concerned aggrieved GTs in unison are mentally prepared to fight against the policy tooth and nail till it is reviewed,” the forum said.
It meanwhile accused the government of applying “the trick of divide & rule to disintegrate the unity of the teaching community with its new policy.” The forum said that through this LDE exercise, the government is “now sowing the seeds of hatred & division among the teachers, creating distrust/clashes/trust deficit between the teaching fraternity.”
“This is a very dangerous trend as far as smooth functioning of the department towards attaining the goal of imparting quality education is concerned,” it cautioned. The ANGTF lamented that the government “instead of healing the old/pre-existing wounds (Promotion Stagnation) is trying to enlarge it by applying its divisive policy (LDE) through NPSC.”
The forum said that if the LDE in its present form is implemented without revision, it will lead to supersession where seniors who had served for 20-30 or more years would be superseded by the juniors of 10 years in service from outside the cadre. It considered ‘supersession’ as the “most unpalatable/indigestible word in the department in view of the extra ordinary condition of promotion stagnation in it.”
The forum said that if at all the Primary Teachers (PTs) holding graduate degree with PSTE/DEL.ED are allowed to appear the recruitment exam for the said post, “then first of all their posts should be converted into GTs against the regular vacancy of GT.” This has been necessitated because GT is the feeder post to the AHM/JEO posts in the department promotion hierarchy, it added.
It argued that despite differences in cadre, scale pay, nature of appointment, nature/level of work between PTs & GTs, if PTs who possess graduate degree are made eligible to sit for the recruitment exam of AHM/JEO vacancies, then the same opportunity should also be given to those GTs who possess Post Graduate degree with B.Ed to appear the recruitment exam for the post of Vice Principal by incorporating a provision in the revised department Service Rules.
The forum reaffirmed its earlier stand on clearing backlog cases of GTs promotion stagnation in the department before implementation of the new rules. It appealed to the competent authority to put all effort to clear the pending cases through promotion. Thereafter if at all necessary, the new rule may be applied for upcoming anticipated vacancies of AHM& JEO respectively, it said.
It meanwhile appealed that during ongoing revision, besides LDE, all other controversial points/bone of contention/ provisions/ defectives in the current Service Rules should be removed/rectified in the common interest of the employees of the department for all round development.
