JAMMU, Sep 26: The Jammu & Kashmir Teachers Forum (JKTF), affiliated with the All India Secondary Teachers Federation (AISTF), today held a virtual meeting to deliberate upon the recent resolution passed by the J&K Legislative Assembly seeking exemption from the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET) for teachers appointed before October 31, 2019.
During the meeting, the Forum welcomed the Assembly’s intervention and expressed gratitude to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Education Minister Sakeena Itoo, the Cabinet and all Members of the Legislative Assembly for supporting the concerns of the affected teachers.
Mohammed Ashraf Sheikh, UT President JKTF said that the Assembly resolution is an important development for teachers who were appointed through the prescribed recruitment process and fulfilled the eligibility conditions applicable at the time of their appointment. He said JKTF has consistently pursued the issue through democratic and constitutional means and would continue its efforts for appropriate legal and administrative relief.
The meeting also discussed the future course of action and the need to take up the matter with the Government of India, Ministry of Education, NCTE and other concerned authorities for consideration of a one-time exemption and/or suitable transitional relief for eligible teachers across Jammu & Kashmir, while seeking an appropriate mechanism to address the concerns of all affected teachers.
Gulshan Sharma, Provincial President Jammu JKTF, said that thousands of teachers have rendered years of dedicated service across Jammu and Kashmir, often under challenging circumstances, and their long service should be duly considered while deciding the future mechanism regarding TET.
The Forum resolved to continue pursuing the matter through peaceful, democratic and constructive means and urged the concerned authorities to take the issue forward in a time-bound manner to address the uncertainty among affected teachers.
The meeting was attended by Rafaquit Hussain Malik, UT Senior Vice President; Mohd Mahroof Choudhary, UT Senior Vice Chairman; Mehmood-ul-Rayaz Bhat and Sanjeet Sharma, UT Vice Presidents; Lokesh Sharma, UT Convenor; Aakash Kashyap, UT Additional General Secretary; Raman Kumar Sharma, UT Secretary; Neetan Kalyan, UT Advisor; Joginder Singh Thakur, UT Spokesperson; Jalil Ahmed, UT Publicity Secretary; Ghulam Murtaza Khan, UT Coordinator; Ganai Nazia Farooq, Provincial President Female Wing; Nasir Ahmed Mir, Provincial Senior Vice President; Amarjeet Singh and Mohd Rayaz, Provincial Vice Presidents; Vinod Sharma, Provincial Secretary; and Sahil Bharti, Provincial Coordinator, besides District Presidents Satnam Singh (Rajouri), Rail Singh (Reasi), Imtiyaz-ul-Haq (Kishtwar), Mohd Amin (Doda), Nasir-ul-Haq Bhat (Ramban), Aakash Bharti (Udhampur), Shahbaz Akbar Khan (Poonch), Bhupinder Singh (Kathua), Ferdous Choudhary (Samba) and Ali Akbar (Jammu).Ashok Kumar Jamwal, Mohammed Aftab Khan, Mustafa Kamal, Danish Ahmed, Imran Ahmed, Azad Hussain, Shafiq Mirza and Romesh Kumar Sharma,*Mohd Farooq bhat*, *Kamlesh kumari* *Shilpa Devi*Shamsher Singh* among others, also participated in the meeting.