Guwahati: Assam Education Minister Dr Ranoj Pegu held discussions with teachers from District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) across the state, focusing on teacher training, educational resources and measures to improve the quality of education. The discussions, organised by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), were held over the past two days as part of efforts under the NIPUN Bharat Mission and the National Education Policy. During the interaction, Pegu addressed concerns surrounding the regularisation of teachers and clarified that professional qualifications prescribed by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) are mandatory for appointment as teachers.
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According to the minister, candidates seeking to teach at the primary level must possess a Diploma in Elementary Education (D.El.Ed) and qualify in the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET). For secondary-level teaching, a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) qualification is required. Pegu said teachers who did not possess the prescribed professional qualifications during the provincialisation process could not be appointed as regular teachers and were instead engaged as tutors. He further stated that such tutors would be provided five years to obtain the required professional qualifications. The minister also referred to the recent Supreme Court directions concerning teacher appointments, stating that candidates who do not meet the qualifications prescribed under NCTE or University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines cannot be appointed as teachers.
However, Pegu clarified that the Supreme Court’s direction is an interim order and said the Assam government would wait for the court’s final judgment before taking a final decision on the matter. The discussions with DIET teachers also covered improving teaching standards, strengthening training programmes and ensuring adequate learning resources to support foundational literacy and numeracy across Assam.
