Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Jan 16: The Department of School Education has continued to ban graduate teachers from being deputed to Kashmir University to pursue postgraduate courses for the past six years, preventing them from advancing their credentials or efficiency in the classroom.
According to officials with knowledge of the details, the department stopped sending graduate teachers to university to enroll in postgraduate programs in 2016, despite the fact that the practice had been in place since 1985.
“Due to this decision, many teachers from underprivileged backgrounds have been unable to enroll in PG. These teachers are typically from rural areas and are assigned to places with poor levels of education; if they had higher qualifications, they could provide better services to these places,” an official said.
He said that after passing the entrance exams, the four in-service teachers were allowed to enroll in post-graduate programs at the University of Kashmir in a variety of subjects, including Botany, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics, Zoology, Mathematics, Statistics, Electronics, and Psychology.
The practice had been in effect for the previous 35 years but was abruptly discontinued, preventing a teacher from pursuing more education in his specialized field.
A group of teachers told the Excelsior that even though the department contested the authenticity of degrees gained through distance learning, it prohibited them from obtaining regular degrees.
They said that by doing this, the department was preventing them from enrolling in PG programs and jeopardizing their chances of enhancing teaching in their schools.
“Why is the school education department preventing teachers from pursuing PG programs if the higher education department permits Ph.D. programs? It is completely illogical,” a teacher said.
The Director of School Education, Tasaduk Hussain, didn’t respond on the issue.
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