TEACHERS FOR CHANGE
RETs, RRTs a jugular vein of Edu.System
By: Gh Hassan Bhat
Recently JK Vision Document 2047 has highlighted some of the fundamental issues in education sector of UT Jammu and Kashmir. Under the influence of Planning and Monitoring departments this document was released and published in different daily newspapers and media channels across JK. As per Vision Document, all schools will be equipped with ICT and other modern facilities. Efforts shall be taken to make education system more inclusive, student oriented in which subject liberty, e-content creation, flipped and blended learning shall be preferred.
But unfortunately untrained, Rets, RRTS tutors labeled as threat to the education department which is completely not a good analysis of this vision document. Unambiguously, an untrained person in any field is amateurish and cannot yield good results as compared to other trained personals. But here the question is who is untrained, if an RET or RRT teachers has completed all his professional degrees like BED, MED, PG, SET, NET, PHD and other degrees, how he or she is untrained or threat to the dept.
In 2019-2020 all non B.Ed teachers including these RETs and RRTs had to undergone their BED through IGNOU under proper Govt Order and auspices of the then Education Minister AltafBukhari. Each year teachers enhance their professional qualification through different mediums which is again beneficial to the dept.
Although, this large number of teacher fraternity has suffered a lot till now, but they never compromised with their legitimate duties. It is those relentless efforts of teachers including these RETS, RRTS that made the education system more effervescent, accessible and percolated it to all. Under SSA guidelines these teachers were engaged against proper procedure having distinctions in their studies and taken on merit basis. Now they have given their youthful years in this department for the betterment and upliftment of education sector and acted as real benign to the students.
History is testament these RETs and RRTs were often on roads till late 2018 when SAC decision was passed and these teachers were converted to GII and GIII categories only after fulfilling all eligible criteria’s. These teachers are performing their duties despite every hardship facing anywhere. Their role is indelible in every respect. It is in record that literacy rate of JK in 2001 was just 55% and it reached 67% in 2011 in which major contribution was of these teachers. Hundreds of schools were closed and reopened by this young lot and they devoted themselves to take education sector to new heights.
During pandemic 2019-2020 these teachers shown their utmost dedication by offered their online services to the students and those who could not be linked to online due to lack of mobile phones or internet connectivity issues were being engaged in open air (community classes) on volunteer basis in difficult terrains which later govt and NITI AYOG had appreciated it. These teachers made a special public reach out by holding massive enrollment drives and other programmes to arrest the public attention towards govt run institution and enrolled thousands of students in govt schools. They mainstreamed thousands of Out of School Children (OOSC) and CWSN children. Besides, performing as BLOs, observers, trainers in different duties, surveys etc all done by these teachers without any monetary benefits.
RETs and RRTS and other teachers have undergone hundreds of capacity building training programmes conducted through DIETS, SCERTS, NCERT etc. Professional training like IMPACT Integrated Multidisciplinary Professional Advancement Courses, DIKSHA COURSES, Learning outcomes, SBA, ECCC etc was conducted so far for the professional advancement of these teachers.
Nevertheless, no one is perfect; one has to learn from womb to tomb. Life is learning, it is continues and ongoing process. There are certain problems yet inside our system and with this lot as well. Need of the hour is to own them, train them for the holistic development and benefit of new generation learners. Let’s make our training institutions more robust to impart different capacity building courses among these teachers for further improvisation. Our NEP 2020 also has been much emphasizing on this training component and quality education. It is only possible when we respect our teachers in general and this RET and RRT community as well because after all teaching is a great apostle profession.
The writer is a Govt Teacher/Resource Person/newspaper columnist.
Kashmir Images is an English language daily newspaper published from Srinagar (J&K), India. The newspaper is one of the largest circulated English dailies of Kashmir and its hard copies reach every nook and corner of Kashmir Valley besides Jammu and Ladakh region.
