DELED degree row: HRD Min tells officials to find workable ‘solution’

NEW DELHI: As the issue of ‘validity' of Diploma in Elementary Education (DELED) certificates has brought embarrassment to Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal during the Cabinet meeting, which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he has directed concerned officials to find out a workable ‘solution' at earliest.

Notably, lakhs of teachers in the facing the employability problem after the National Council for Teachers' Education (NCTE), which first agreed to recognise the 18-month DELED degree, has refused to validate the course that was meant to provide inservice training to untrained teachers in schools. The DELED programme was designed by the PMO to meet the shortage of teachers in primary schools in the country.

The issue of about 13 lakh DELED certificate holders was raised in the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. In the meeting, the HRD Minister was asked to explain the root cause of the issue and possible solutions for it. A meeting of concerned officials has been called to address the issue.

It's pertinent to mention here that the NCTE, an arm of HRD Ministry, had said three years ago that it will recognise 18-month long DELED offered by the National Institute of Open School (NIOS).

The NCTE had said that the working teachers who complete the course will be at par with BED teachers as their onjob experience will be counted as a six-month internship.

The lacuna came into notice after Bihar government had recently sought clarification from the NCTE about the validity of DELED programme of NIOS. In its reply, the Council said that the programme is not recognised and hence the candidates should not be employed. The apathy of NCTE has left about 13 lakh teachers, including 2.5 lakh in Bihar, in the lurch.