Can temporary language teachers be selected by a non-qualified committee?

Hyderabad: The unique ways in which the Telangana School Education Department functions. The latest is that it had allowed engaging the services of 54 Academic Instructors in four mandals of the Vikarabad Districts. The instructors will be paid an honorarium of Rs 15,600 per month. Besides, the appointment of the instructors is temporary in nature and they are to be appointed for three months or ‘till the appointment of newly recruited teachers join their respective schools’.

Based on the instructions of the State School Education Department, the Vikarabad District Collector Prateek Jain has issued proceedings appointing a committee for the appointment of the instructors giving the qualifications for the appointment of the temporary language teachers. According to the proceedings, the preference for the appointment of teachers should be as per the criteria given in an order. Accordingly, the first preference be given to the candidates with "Graduation + BEd or Graduation with Pandit trainees for Telugu, Hindi and Urdu." The second preference is candidates with graduation.

"Further, it is also instructed to engage the said Academic Instructors within the same Gram Panchayat/ULB, as far as possible. If suitable candidates are not available, consideration should extend to nearby Gram Panchayats/ULBs, and, if necessary, to candidates within the same mandal."

The committee which appoints these temporary language teachers is headed by the Mandal Praja Parishad Development Officer (MPDO) of the mandal concerned. He will head the committee as its chairman. Secondly, the Mandal Education Officer (MEO), Chairman of the Amma Aadarsha Patashala Committee (AAMC) of the concerned School. The committees are asked to complete the process on or before August 15, 2024, and report the compliance.

Speaking to The Hans India, an MPDO from the district said, "There are no guidelines issued that the committee members should be qualified in Telugu, Hindi and Urdu for conducting the selection process." The going to be appointed instructors will have to teach at the level of Upper Primary and High school classes and complete the syllabus in approximately half-to-a-full semester period. How the school education department has devised a mechanism to select a qualified language teacher by non-qualified members comprised committee? Even for a temporary period, is this the mechanism it has been following for the past several years in engaging temporary school assistants and instructors and compromising the standards of education? It remains a million-dollar

question.