Over 12k teachers don black badges to press for demands

Ranchi: More than 12,073 assistant teachers who passed the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) wore black badges seeking fulfilment of their demands on the occasion of Teachers’ Day on Thursday. The protest was organised by TET Safal Sahayak Adhyapak Sangh.
Seemant Ghosal, the state convenor of the TET Safal Sahayak Adhyapak Sangh, said, “While the day is observed to show respect to teachers, the TET pass assistant teachers marked it as an insult day, feeling undervalued by the administration here.”
The protesting teachers are advocating for two main demands: immediate adjustment to the post of assistant teacher and relaxation of the mandatory 10 years of work experience for those transitioning to that role.
According to Gaurav Yaduvanshi, a member of the association, “The teachers possess all necessary qualifications as per the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and the National Education Policy (NEP). In prior high-level committee meetings, recommendations were made to grant pay scales directly to TET pass parateachers but no decision was made in our favour.”
The association plans to gherao the residence of education minister Baidyanath Ram on September 7.
Secretary of school education and literacy department, Uma Shankar Singh, said, “We are currently unaware of their concerns or the motivations behind their protest. As soon as we get the information, we will make efforts to address the issue.”