STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: Around 15,000 candidates of the State who cleared the Diploma in Elementary Education (D El Ed) examination under the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in the 2017-2019 session have not been given their certificates even now.
Talking to The Sentinel recently, All Assam NIOS NC Teachers' Association president Pulin Payun said that they have been saddled with the 'Non-Certifed or NC' tag in the marksheet by for no fault of theirs.
Elaborating on the issue, he said that one of the conditions attached to award of the diploma certificate was securing of at least 50% marks (45% in case of reserved category candidates) in the higher secondary examination, while no minimum percentage of marks was required in case of graduates. No time-frame was mentioned for achieving the qualifying percentage of 50% and 45%. Many of the candidates from Assam fulfilled this condition by sitting for betterment examinations in the higher secondary course after clearing the D El Ed examination. However, Payun said, a fresh condition was later imposed which stipulated that the candidates should secure 50% marks "before completion of the D El Ed programme." This condition was unfavourable for candidates who improved their higher secondary examination marks after April, 2019.
Payun said that they recently submitted a memorandum in this connection to State Education Minister Ranoj Pegu. However, Pegu later told them that matter is not within the State Government's purview.
As such, Payun said that they urging the NIOS authorities to ensure that: the NC tag should be removed from the D El Ed marksheet in the case of candidates who improved their higher secondary examination marks after April, 2019; NIOS should provide certificates without and terms and conditions, as has been done by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) which also conducted a similar examination; that candidates having the term 'NC' in their marksheet should be allowed to apply for posts of teachers under Government recruitment.
Also Watch: