SRINAGAR: The Jammu and Kashmir’s education department has ordered the reversion of 72 in-charge lecturers back to the masters/teachers’ grade after the investigations revealed that their distance mode post-graduation is not at par with the universities of Jammu and Kashmir. They had been elevated as in-charge lecturers and posted at various higher secondary schools in 2019 on basis of their master’s degrees in ecology and environment studies which they had acquired through distance mode from various universities outside Jammu and Kashmir.
These 72 teachers across Kashmir and Jammu were elevated under different government orders on July 15, 2019, July 25, 2019, May 12, 2022, and October 16, 2019. Their elevation had riders which included that their department will verify their master’s degree in ecology and environment.
The order issued by the Principal Secretary of Education on December 16, offers details of the verification process initiated by the Directorates of education at Srinagar and Jammu. Both the directorates have not upheld their degrees as required for their status. Besides, the University of Jammu and the University of Kashmir have refused to accept the degrees and insisted that the courses they teach are science and require laboratory exposure. The universities have said that they accept only the IGNOU and MANU courses in distance mode for the particular subject.
“Therefore, based upon the above observation, degree/s obtained through distance mode in science stream (Environmental Science/Ecology and Environment) cannot be considered valid for the purpose of seniority and promotion,” the Government order No 2189 – JK (Edu) of 2022, issued on December 16, 2022, said. “…In view of the above facts and circumstances, the placements /postings in respect of 72 masters/teachers…..are hereby withdrawn ab initio. The incumbents are reverted back to their substantive posts and shall continue to be posted at the same place of posting against the available substantive post of teacher/master.”
The universities wherefrom they acquired the master’s degree in distance mode include the Bharathiar University of Coimbatore, MS University Tamil Nadu, Sikkim Manipal University, Kuvempu University, Vmus Tamil Nadu, Global Open University, Indian Institute of Ecology, Makhan Lal Chaturvedi Bhopal, Vinaya Mission University, MCRVBD, Bhopal, BRA Hyderabad, and VMRF Saleem.
Of the 72 teachers who reverted to their earlier status, 67 are from Kashmir and five are from Jammu.
(Feature photograph is merely representational)
