Manzoor Ahmad Bhat
The recent proposed draft rules have mentioned that the eligibility for lecturer would be Post graduation in relevant subject and B. Ed. The sudden addition of B Ed to the eligibility criteria raises eyebrows on the intention of the department. It wouldn’t go well with the youth of union territory. It would be injustice with the meritorious students of the valley. As large section of the youth would become ineligible for the said posts. It would be a great dis-service to the qualified youth of the valley. The highly qualified job aspirants who have burnt mid night oil to qualify different competitive exams like JRF, NET, SET and GATE would not be eligible. The students who have highest qualifications like PhD and post doc, would not be eligible either.
The move would benefit different B Ed colleges of the UT. The mushrooming of the B Ed colleges would occur. The B Ed colleges would feast on it. Most of the B Ed colleges are money minting machines. The students would have to spend hefty amounts of money to get one more degree to make themselves eligible. The unemployed youth who are already finding hard to make ends meet, would be made to spend more money to make themselves eligible for the lecturer posts. The step comes at a time, when the higher education department is trying to make higher qualifications less important and are opening the doors of opportunities for the youth of the valley based on the merit. To ensure merit wins they have allocated more marks to the written tests. Which is an appreciable step. In recently ongoing recruitment processes many such candidates have been selected who don’t have highest qualifications in the respective subjects. The new business rules of JKPSC have opened up the doors for the talented youth of the valley. The doors were sometime back shut on them, when the process of shorting listing of the candidates was based on the degrees, research papers, experiences etc. But the short listing of the candidates based on their performance in the written test has opened up new horizons for the talented youth of the valley. When the higher education department is trying to remove the obstacles in the path of talented youth, School education department is doing the exact reverse. They are shutting the doors of opportunities for the youth.
The school education department instead of the B Ed should have added any competitive teacher examination like CTET to the eligibility criteria. But they have chosen to go with B Ed. One wonders, would it bring more benefits to the school children or the owners of the B Ed colleges. Even if the School education department wants to add it to the eligibility criteria for the pots of lecturer. Still it should give the job aspirants of the UT one time relaxation from the eligibility criteria. Further, there is mention of B Ed or its equivalent in the eligibility criteria along with the PG in relevant subject. One wonders, what is equivalent of B Ed? They should clear this and if there are any degrees or diplomas which would be considered as an equivalent of B Ed. They should be mentioned for the benefit of the job aspirants. Besides, who would determine whether the degree would be treated as an equivalent of B Ed or not.
In draft rules, there is mention of PG in Science subjects ( having practicals as part of their course ) from distance mode wouldn’t be considered. It puts the career of thousands of youth at stake. Thousands of youth are pursuing their Master’s from science subjects from IGNOU and other recognised open Universities. These open Universities are playing an important role in dissemination of knowledge and information to the large number of students. In science subjects practicals are being conducted on Sundays and off days to the learners in these open Universities. There is no point in not considering their degrees for the posts. These are not fake degrees. Why to treat them like fake degrees then? Things can’t run on assumptions. You can’t assume that these degrees are not worth to be considered. If the learners of these universities are not good enough, they wouldn’t be qualifying the written tests then. The learners of these universities shouldn’t be deprived of the opportunity to the job. This would be violation of their fundamental rights It is high time to consider distance mode degrees, online mode degrees at par with conventional degrees. These days more and more students are opting for distance and online mode of educational programmes. The institution of high repute are offering online degrees now. Such degree programmes are essential for de- centralisation of education, which is need of the hour.
It is appreciated that these draft rules have been put before the public for objections and suggestions. So that a final draft for recruitment rules would be prepared. Let’s hope that all the genuine suggestions and objections are taken into consideration for the formation of final draft of recruitment rules. So that there would be no obstacle for deserving candidates to get into the department and work the betterment of the society in different capacities. Nobody should be be deprived of an opportunity to get the Job of their choice because of some petty issues.
Manzoor Ahmad Bhat can be reached at manzoor.em14@gmail.com
