Kashmir Impulse Desk
Srinagar, Sep 24
The government will send an Assembly resolution seeking relief for teachers from a mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) to the Centre, Education Minister Sakina Itoo said on Thursday.
The resolution was passed unanimously by the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly after a debate on the requirement.
Itoo said the government had already approached the Supreme Court against the applicability of the test to teachers in Jammu and Kashmir, while the Assembly resolution provided another avenue to raise the issue with the Centre.
She said the government’s concern was not whether teachers were capable of taking an examination but the dignity of teachers who had spent years educating students.
“All the teachers of the country are intelligent. They know everything. They can give tests. But this is a question of their honour and dignity,” Itoo told the House.
She said teachers had helped educate generations of students, including doctors, civil servants and engineers, and their contribution should be recognised.
Itoo thanked Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who also holds the law portfolio, for directing that an appeal be filed in the Supreme Court.
She urged BJP members to support the resolution so it could be sent to the Centre with unanimous backing.
“The Centre has to decide,” she said.
The resolution was subsequently passed by voice vote.
