Ending all speculations and uncertainty the Council of Ministers on Tuesday has approved a new scheme to regularise the TET qualified SSA teachers. As per the cabinet decision while all the 45 TET qualified will regularised the D El Ed qualified teachers will be given the basic pay. Like the TET teachers the D El ED qualified teachers will also get 3 per cent yearly increment. The benefits will come into force with retrospective effect from February 23 this year—the day the High Court of Tripura gave a direction to the state government in this regard. The 3 per cent increment will be enforced from July 1 this year too.
Others who have not qualified the D El Ed or are Madhyamik, Higher secondary pass or did not have 50 percent marks, the state government will help them and extend all supports to attain the required qualifications. As soon as the D El Ed teachers will qualify the TET they will be regularised.
The new scheme has been formulated keeping in mind the High Court of Tripura directives to the state government in this regard.
Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath accompanied by ICA minister Sushanta Chowdhury has said, “now after the SSA teachers in the upper primary levels have been getting Rs 27,711 per month. From February 23, 2021 till June this year they will get Rs 35,851. If the 3 per cent increment is added to their pay from this July 1 then their monthly pay will be around Rs 36,850. At the same time the primary level teachers who have been getting Rs 21, 907 will get Rs 25,500 till June. Since July when the 3 per cent increment will be added they will get Rs approximate Rs 26,265”..
Approximate additional expenditure from the state’s coffer for implementing the decision has been pegged at Rs 27.09 crore.
The Education Minister has said, there are total 5175 teachers engaged under the SSA. Among them 2634 are in primary and 2542 are in upper primary level schools.
Out of all the teachers 45 are TET qualified –who will be regularised- and 4,502 are D El Ed qualified – who will get the basic pay. As many as 575 teachers have not yet completed their D El Ed while 54 are either Madhyamik or HS qualified and without 50 percent marks—they will be fully supported by the state government to achieve the target-qualifications and marks.
The state government has also decided to bring into force the scheme from February 23 2021 – the day High Court asked the state government to take positive steps following a PIL.
“The government could have gone to Supreme Court with SLP. But we did not as we were always sympathetic to the SSA teachers”, Nath said.
