UP cabinet makes written test mandatory for primary teachers' appointment

About 1.37 lakh primary teachers will be appointed through this new process

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday approved changes in the appointment process of primary school teachers making written examination compulsory for aspirants.

The Cabinet in a meeting presided by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath approved an amendment in the UP Basic Shiksha Adhyapak Sewa Niyamawali (rules), state government spokesperson and minister for power Shrikant Sharma told reporters here.

A written examination of 60 marks has been made compulsory while 40 marks will be for educational qualifications, the minister said.

Only those candidates who have cleared TET (Teacher's Eligibility Test) exam will be eligible for the written exam, he said.

On Shiksha Mitras, the minister said they will get an opportunity as per court directives and will a get weight of 2.5 marks for each year of service up to a maximum of 25 marks.

Minister for Basic Education Anupama Jaiswal said 1.37 lakh primary teachers will be appointed through this new process.

Among other key decisions, the cabinet eased norms related to the felling of trees other than mango, neem, sal and mahua on private land with some riders, the minister said. The government has, however, urged farmers to plant ten trees for each tree cut by them, he added.

The cabinet decided to amend the rules pertaining to the Right to Education check the arbitrary functioning of private schools. This has been done to ensure strict compliance of the provision providing free education to 25 per cent poor children, the minister said.

To a question on when children of administrative officers and leaders will start taking admissions in government schools, the other spokesman of the government Siddharth Nath Singh said that efforts were on in this direction.

Facilities and quality of education in government schools are being improved, Singh, who also is a state minister, said.