Candidates selected by TET, but not appointed by schools

AHMEDABAD: Even as the education department has organized selection camps in different districts on March 1-3 for selecting principals and teachers for secondary and higher secondary schools, the Gujarat State School Management Association (GSSMA) has sent a notice to all schools directing them not to issue appointment letters to candidates who are selected through the recruitment board.

The selection camps will be organized to finalize candidates on 6,000-odd positions of teachers and principals vacant in the schools. The selection process will be held for 1,250 positions of principals, 3,135 positions of secondary teachers and 1,950 higher secondary teachers.

With this, the school managements have come in direct confrontation of state education department on the issue of centralized recruitment of teachers and principals. The state education recently introduced the process of taking Teacher's Eligibility Test ( TET). Candidates who will clear this test will be interviewed by a selection committee of the recruitment board and selected on the post of principals and teachers in secondary and higher secondary schools all over the state.

The GSSMA has taken major exception to this process saying that selecting a teacher or principal for the school is the school management's prerogative. The state education department cannot take away this right. In fact, the GSSMA has also challenged this decision of education department in Supreme Court.

The education department had recently formed a selection committee of the recruitment board in which Ambu Patel, president of GSSMA was also appointed as a lone representative of the association. "I have resigned from the committee. We cannot accept the interference of education department to the level of recruiting the teachers and principals for us. We can be sent a list of five-odd eligible candidates but the final say should remain with us. We cannot serve as stamp papers to issue appointment letters to candidates selected by the recruitment board," Patel said.

News : Times of India (1.3.12)