Maha primary teachers may have tougher eligibility norms

Mumbai, Feb 20 (PTI) Maharashtra Government planningto upgrade the eligibility criteria and making degreecompulsory for primary school teachers in order to improve theteaching standards at the elementary level.

"The School Education Department is working on theproposal to modify the educational qualification norms forprimary school teachers," an official from EducationDepartment told PTI.

The issue came up for discussion in a meeting of thedepartment recently held with Chief Minister PrithvirajChavan. School Education Minister Rajendra Darda suggestedraising norms of eligibility for primary teachers which willimprove quality of teaching, the official said.

There are over three lakh primary school teachers inthe state and some of them may not be graduates. Thedepartment would give a timeframe for the non-graduateteachers to get their degrees if the proposal gets nod in theCabinet, he said.

As per the existing rules, a candidate needs to passthe HSC exam (standard 12th) with at least 50 per cent marksand then complete a Diploma in Elementary Education (DEd) toapply for the primary teacher''s job.

The decision would affect about 14,000 candidates whoget job as primary teachers every year across the state. PTISSG