The Punjab Education Department has issued an order making it mandatory for head teachers and centre head teachers — who were directly recruited from the posts of education providers in the primary wing on the basis of experience — to undergo a six-month bridge course costing Rs 25,000. The move has triggered strong opposition from teacher unions, who have termed the decision unjustified and as a harassment of experienced teachers, while also criticising the “excessive” course fee.
Kiran Sharma, Director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), wrote to the respective District Education Officers (DEOs) on December 14 regarding the compulsory bridge course for primary teachers who were officially recruited during the period from June 28, 2018, to August 11, 2023, after having already served for several years.
Under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), hundreds of teachers were recruited as education providers on a contract basis in the primary wing during 2005–06. In 2018-19, as many as 1,250 education providers were regularised by the Punjab Education Department as head teachers and centre head teachers after assessing their years of experience and requisite educational qualifications. Most of these teachers now possess 15 to 20 years of teaching experience, having served continuously since 2005.
Condemning the order, Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF) state president Digvijaypal Sharma said that asking such experienced teachers to undergo a course at this stage was completely illogical. “These teachers have been teaching for nearly two decades. Their regularisation itself was done strictly as per rules, based on experience and qualifications. Forcing them to undergo a bridge course now is unjustified and unacceptable,” he said.
The union further pointed out that December 25 is the last date to register for the bridge course on the website of the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). The course is being conducted in distance education mode, but includes mandatory physical examinations, adding to the burden on teachers.
DTF state secretary Resham Singh Khemuana said, “The teachers were appointed only after fulfilling all the terms and conditions laid down by the Education Department at the time of recruitment. Now, almost six years after their regular appointment, they are being ordered to complete a bridge course. This is nothing but harassment of teachers,” he said.
DTF assistant secretary Rajwinder Singh Behniwal said that a similar situation had occurred earlier as well. “In 2010–11, nearly 1,273 teachers were recruited on regular rolls based on job experience in government schools. They were later asked to undergo a course through the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Punjab, after 2017, but that course was completely free of cost. Charging such a high fee from highly experienced teachers today is unjustified,” he said.
Behniwal added that the state government should have taken up the issue with the Centre, considering the long experience of these teachers, but instead, it was forcing them to enrol in the course. He said, “The state could have got the course done via DIET, as it was done by many other teachers.”
DTF senior vice-president Sarwan Singh Aujla, vice-president Sukhwinder Sukhi, finance secretary Jaswinder Singh, joint secretary Daljit Samrala, and state press secretary Lakhveer Singh Harike jointly stated that teachers were being harassed daily through one order or another. As a result, instead of focusing on teaching, they were repeatedly being forced to take to the streets to oppose such decisions.
The leaders demanded immediate withdrawal of the order, warning that the organisation would launch a statewide agitation if the decision was not rolled back.
The bridge course for government teachers was introduced following changes in teacher qualification norms framed by the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and subsequent directions of the Supreme Court of India.
The issue arose due to ambiguity over the eligibility of BEd-qualified teachers appointed to primary and elementary posts during a transition period in recruitment rules. In its April 8, 2024 judgment, the Supreme Court allowed such in-service teachers to continue, subject to completion of a prescribed bridge course.
The six-month certificate course, conducted mainly through NIOS, aims to bridge gaps in pedagogy related to primary education. While it does not apply to fresh recruitment, failure to complete the course within the stipulated time may render a teacher’s appointment non-compliant with NCTE norms.