UP Congress urges government to allow candidates to sit for teacher exams under old rules

The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee has written to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath requesting that candidates who prepared under previous eligibility criteria be allowed to appear for the State's upcoming teacher recruitment examinations under those older rules. State Congress president Ajay Rai has asked the government to direct the Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission to take an immediate positive decision on the matter.

The recruitment drive in question aims to fill 23,123 vacant posts for Trained Graduate Teachers (TGT) and Post Graduate Teachers (PGT) in non-government aided secondary schools across Uttar Pradesh. However, changes to eligibility and educational qualification conditions introduced before the start of the recruitment process have rendered a large number of aspirants ineligible under the current norms.

Candidates caught by revised criteria

In his letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Rai explained that many candidates had obtained their educational qualifications under rules that were in force earlier and had been preparing for the recruitment examination for a long time based on those standards. "They have earned their educational qualification according to the rules and eligibility conditions prevailing at that time and have prepared for recruitment on that basis," he stated.

The Congress leader received a representation from affected candidates highlighting this concern. His letter emphasized that the revision in eligibility norms has naturally impacted the chances of those who prepared on the basis of predetermined qualifications.

One-time exemption urged

"Therefore, it will be balanced and equitable to give them an opportunity on the basis of the pre-existing rules," Mr. Rai wrote in his appeal to the Chief Minister. The intervention seeks a one-time relief measure that would allow this cohort of candidates to compete under the eligibility framework they had originally worked toward, rather than being disqualified by the updated criteria.

The scale of the recruitment, covering over 23,000 teaching positions, makes the eligibility question significant for thousands of aspirants who now find themselves excluded despite years of preparation under the previous regulatory regime.

Source: The Hindu