NEW DELHI: The central government has accepted the plea of the 13 states that sought relaxation of the minimum qualification criteria for teachers’ recruitment under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.
The states that had filed the plea are: Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
Human Resource Development Ministry notified that the relaxation in the recruitment process was sought for as the respective states failed to get teachers possessing the minimum qualifications as laid down by the National Council for Teacher Education under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009.
The government has sanctioned over Rs.6, 300 crore to ensure strengthening of teacher education in the 12th Plan, the ministry marked in its statement.
In addition to this, the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has allowed the states to offer training to over five lakh in-service untrained teachers through distance mode.
The amended scheme would promote setting up of new District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs), Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) and Institutes of Advance Study in Education (IASEs).
Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan records sanction of 19.82 lakh teachers to states and union territories against 12.86 lakh teachers who were recruited till December 2012.
