Aspirant flags ‘anomaly’ in teachers’ recruitment in Dadenggre, files plaint

TURA, March 24: An aspiring teacher from the plain belt, Istiak Alom, has filed a complaint with Rajabala Police Station against a recently appointed teacher in the Dadenggre subdivision, Saddam Hussain, following the discovery of the latter’s degree of D.El.Ed allegedly being fake.
The complaint was filed on March 20.
The complaint has not only pointed to the teacher having questionable degrees but to almost all the appointed teachers not being eligible for the posts that they have been appointed for.
The complaint comes in the wake of RTI applications that had been filed by two such aspirants, Istiak (Rajabala resident) and Abdus Salim Biswas (Hallidayganj), from the plain belt, who were allegedly denied teaching posts in favour of those that got appointed despite the degrees provided by them being questionable.
Hussain had obtained a D.El.Ed degree from the Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University (College Adarsh Devkali Baba Smarak Mahavidyalaya). However, the college and the university denied Saddam had ever been a student or obtained a degree from the University.
“After getting information from the office of the SDSEO, we filed an RTI application to the institute where Saddam allegedly attended. While we were not shocked by the development, it proved to us that things were not right and manipulation had taken place,” said Alom.
In his complaint, Alom has sought legal action against Hussain, who was appointed as part of a group of 34 teachers under the unreserved category.
Startlingly, he added that of all 34 newly appointed teachers, only 2-3 of them were genuine. “Of the 34 teachers that have been appointed, 17 of them have provided D.El.Ed degrees of 18 months’ duration under NIOS, which already disqualifies them as per the latest judgment of the Supreme Court on the issue. We have sought information on their degrees as well to verify if they actually completed their D.EL.Ed degrees or are fake. We will disclose more soon on this,” he added.
The apex court had recently set out an order where it disqualified teachers with degrees of 18-month duration under NIOS for being appointed to teaching roles.
The state education department, however, is yet to release a notification on the same order for teaching aspirants of Meghalaya.
Alom also pointed to one appointed teacher who not only did not qualify the exam but was still provided a job under the Persons with Disabilities (PWD) category when there was only one position (that was already filled by a candidate).
“She falls under the unreserved category and when there was only one post for the UR category for PWD, how did she get the job despite not qualifying for the post,” he asked.
The teacher in question had secured 83 marks, as per the RTI, which was below 90 marks required for UR PWDs.
Of the remaining 12 teachers that have been appointed, all have passed their degrees from the state of Assam through the Open Distance Learning (ODL) method under the state’s State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).
As per the criteria stated on the Assam state’s SCERT website, ODL is only available for residents of Assam who are already in-service teachers in schools. However, the 12 newly appointed teachers, despite being permanent residents of the state of Meghalaya, were still able to obtain D.El.Ed certificates from Assam and produce the same to secure jobs in Meghalaya.
“We have also written to the Chief Minister’s Special Vigilance Cell of Assam and informed him of the development. An investigation into the matter is currently being undertaken. When they are permanent residents of Meghalaya, how can they complete their ODL certification from Assam when the criteria clearly states otherwise,” asked Alom.
What has been remarkable, as per the two complainants, is the fact that no verification of certificates provided by the candidates is undertaken by the state’s Education department when that should have been the first thing that happened.
“I did my LLB six years ago and instead of practicing law wanted to become a teacher. I worked extremely hard and was trained under Meghalaya DIET, even topping the Assamese subject honour rolls for the state. DIET trains you to become a teacher and yet I was denied not because there were others that were better but because they could arrange questionable certificates. What is the point of Meghalaya DIET when trained teachers are not going to be absorbed in teaching roles?,” he lamented.