PANAJI: Physical Education teachers of schools/ HSS appeal for parity with their counterparts and urge the Education department to grant equivalence on par with Asst. Teachers/ Grade I teachers. The All Goa Council of Physical Education have recently submitted a representation to the Hon’ble Chief Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant and the Department of Education seeking relief in the matter. They have given various recommendations, one of them being grant of equivalence and change in Recruitment Rules as B.P. Ed degree is on par with B.Ed degree.
The President of All Goa Council of Physical Education Mr. Chetan Kavlekar informed that after the Goa University notified B.P. Ed equivalent to B.Ed they are now seeking an equivalence as both the B.P. Ed degree programme and B.Ed programme are at par with each other as they are similar in nature.
.
“It may be noted that such parity exists in Maharashtra from the year 1969 as well as in other States. It is high time that the P.E. teachers are given due respect in terms of equivalence and parity in regard of status with the Asst. Teachers/ Grade I teachers as it is prevalent in other States. We are confident that the Hon’ble Chief Minister would intervene in this matter just like our former late CM, Shri. M. Parrikar did in 2001 and granted the P.E. teachers in HSS with parity in scale with their counterparts” said Chetan Kavlekar.
“It is a grave injustice to the P.E. teachers who have relentlessly sacrificed their time and family to also conduct training in the vacations as well as after school hours to mould and make their students better sportsman and bring laurels to the Institution and the State as well. Equal status for equal work should be followed,” he added.
The benefits of scale / appointment as Principal/Headmaster on seniority basis is also applicable to P.E teachers in states like Maharashtra, U.P. , Punjab but not prevailing in Goa.
“Earlier very few Goans would get a P.E. teachers job since mostly outsiders were employed as Goans were not qualified for the job. Today most of the P.E. teachers are highly qualified in comparison to their counterparts holding a degree in M.P. Ed, M.Phil and a few others with PhD’s too. Despite the hard work and dedication put in by us, the P.E. teachers are not given the due respect or status in the education sector. This debate is going on for several years in order to get parity until earlier this year, the Goa University has granted equivalence to their demand,” he said.
In the year 1998 a representation was given to the former CM of Goa, late Shri. Manohar Parrikar wherein after carrying out a formal study he amended the rules for Higher Secondary Schools (HSS) to grant parity in scales for HSS teachers. We had also demanded Grade I status to the P.E. teachers of HSS and have been anxiously waiting for the same.
It has been also been revealed by the former Education Director and IAS Officer Ms. Vandana Rao in her noting’s after careful study recommended for the change in recruitment rules. Subsequently the Legal Officer of the Education Department and also the OSD to the Hon’ble CM gave his approval for the same and recommended it for Govt. approval.
In 2020, the Education Department had issued a letter to the All Goa Council of Physical Education asking them to get equivalence from Goa University when in fact it was the duty of the Education Department to write to Goa University seeking authorization for the same.
“We understood that it was a time-wasting tactic, but deservingly our Association managed to get equivalence for the same from the Goa University this year in April 2022. The same has been inwarded at the Education Department,” informed Chetan.
Loading ...
