Odisha govt releases fresh guidelines for engagement of junior teachers on annual agreement

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has decided to conduct the recruitment for engagement of Junior Teacher (Schematic) through an online computer-based test and issued fresh guidelines for the same through a gazette notification on Tuesday.

According to the guideline for the engagement of Junior Teachers (Schematic),  the engagement of the Junior Teachers will be on an annual agreement basis.

The agreement will be renewed in subsequent years depending on the performance of the candidates. prior to renewal of the agreement, the Junior Teacher has to obtain a certificate from the concerned headmaster regarding his/her regular attendance and satisfactory service which is to be produced before the Zilla Parishad, the gazette notification read.

The Junior Teacher (Schematic) can be disengaged from the service with a prior notice of 30 days, if she/he violates the conditions of the agreement on the basis of adverse report of the Block Education Officer – on un-authorised absence/misconduct/involvement in criminal cases etc, it further reads.

Following are the guidelines issued by the Odisha Government

1. All the functions of Elementary Education will be transferred in phases to Zilla Parishad and other Panchayati Raj Institutions.
2. That, engagement of all Junior Teachers (Schematic) will be made by respective Zilla Parishads under each category i.e. for Classes I to V and Classes VI to VIII under the programme of Samagra Sikshya (SS)for implementation of the said Act for elementary education.
3. ADVERTISEMENT

OSEPA on behalf of School & Mass Education Department will publish an advertisement in widely circulated Odia & English daily newspapers inviting online applications from intending candidates for engagement as Junior Teacher (Schematic).

The advertisement will contain the following details

1. The date and manner of availability of application form and other details regarding recruitment.
2. Last date of submission of online application.
3. The intending candidate may visit OSEPA website for further information as mentioned below:

(a) District wise number of vacancies &vacancies reserved for different social categories/PwD candidates/Ex-servicemen/Sports personnel, as per ORV Act and other prevailing Acts and Rules.

(b) Remuneration admissible to the post.

(c) Syllabus of examination

(d) Documents to be submitted at the time of submission of online application and before the concerned Authorities for verification.

The onus of submission of all required documents on or before the stipulated timeline will be on the candidate only.

(e) Government Resolution

4. MODE OF APPLICATION

In order to appear in the online computer-based test for the post of Junior Teacher (Schematic), the candidates are required to apply through online mode as per the procedure mentioned in the Advertisement.

A Calendar of Activities along with timeline for the total selection process will be published in OSEPA website with due approval of Government.

5. ELIGIBILITY

Candidates securing percentage of marks in their academic qualification as per the eligibility mentioned below can apply for the online computer-based test for engagement as Junior Teacher (Schematic). The percentage of marks secured by the candidates in aggregate out of the total marks will be taken into consideration for eligibility.

5.1 (i) CATEGORY-1 (For Classes I to V)

(a) Higher Secondary (+2) or its equivalent with at least 50% marks and 2-year Diploma in Elementary Education (by whatever name known)

OR

Higher Secondary (+2) or its equivalent with at least 45% marks and 2-year Diploma in Elementary Education (by whatever name known), in accordance with the NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations,2002.

OR

Higher Secondary (+2) or its equivalent with at least 50% marks and 4-year Diploma in Elementary Education ( B.El.Ed.)

OR

Higher Secondary (+2) or its equivalent with at least 50% marks and 2-year Diploma in Education (Special Education)

OR

Graduation and two-year Diploma in Elementary Education (by whatever name known)

AND

1. Pass in the Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test-I (OTET-I)
2. Candidates must have Odia as MIL up to Class-X or pass in Odia language test equivalent to Matric standard conducted or declared equivalent by Board of Secondary Education, Odisha except for the candidates as mentioned under Para 5.2.

(ii) CATEGORY-2 (For Classes VI to VIII)

1. Graduation and two-year Diploma in Elementary Education (by whatever name known)

OR

At least 50% marks either in Graduation or in Post-Graduation and B.Ed.

OR

Graduation with at least 45% marks and 1-year Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) in accordance with the NCTE (Recognition Norms and Procedure) Regulations issued from time to time in this regard.

OR

Higher Secondary (+2) or its equivalent with at least 50% marks and 4-year Bachelor in Elementary Education (B.El.Ed.)

OR

Higher Secondary (+2) or its equivalent with at least 50% marks and 4-year B. A/B.Sc.Ed or B.A.Ed./B.Sc.Ed.

OR

Graduation with at least 50% marks and 1-year B.Ed (Special Education)

OR

Post-Graduation with a minimum 55% marks or equivalent grade and three-year integrated B.Ed-M.Ed.

AND

1. Pass in Odisha Eligibility Test-II (OTET-II)
2. Candidates must have odia as MIL up to class-X or pass in odia language test equivalent to Matric standard conducted or declared equivalent by Board of Secondary Education, Odisha except for the candidates as mentioned under Para 5.2.

5.2 In order to be eligible for Urdu/Bengali/Telugu Junior Teacher (Schematic), candidates must have passed Urdu/ Bengali/Telugu as the case may be as MIL up to High School Certificate (HSC) standard. Since their engagement is likely to be held in the bilingual schools, such candidates shall produce a certificate from the Head Master of the concerned school to the effect that she/he has passed HSC examination in odia medium.

5.3 Persons with Diploma in Education (Special Education) or B.Ed. (Special Education) qualification shall undergo, after appointment, an NCTE recognised 6-month Special Programme in Elementary Education.

5.4 Relaxation of 5% in minimum qualifying marks shall be allowed to the candidates belonging to reserved categories, such as SC, ST, SEBC and PwDs.

5.5 Candidates can apply in Category-1, in category-2 or both as per their eligibility. In case a candidate applies for both the categories, she/he will have to exercise irrevocable option of preference (between category 1 and 2) for engagement at the time of submission of application.

Explanation

• For the purpose of equivalency of Higher Secondary (+2), examinations conducted by the institutions declared equivalent by the Council of Higher Secondary Education, Odisha shall be considered.
• For the purpose of equivalency of Graduation and Post-Graduation, examinations conducted by the institutions declared equivalent by the Universities of Odisha shall be considered. The said university must have been affiliated to UGC.
• For the purpose of degree in Teacher Education (B.Ed.), B.Ed. Degree of other universities declared equivalent with corresponding degree of the Universities of Odisha and a course recognised by the NCTE shall be considered.
• For the purpose of two years Diploma in Education (Special Education) or one year B.Ed, (Special Education), a course recognised by Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) shall be considered. The candidate must have registered his/her name with the RCI and at the time of submission of application, she/he has to submit the RCI Registration certificate.
• Candidates possessing Academic/Training qualifications from Boards/Universities/Institutions outside Odisha shall have to produce the authenticated proof of equivalency, affiliation of their institution to a recognised University and recognition of such training course and institute by NCTE, failing which she/he shall not be considered as eligible for selection.
• A candidate furnishing certificates, mark sheets with grades and grade points shall have to also furnish numerical equivalence of grades/grades point from the examining bodies failing which she/he shall not be treated as eligible for selection.
• vii. In case of compartmental examination, the fail marks secured in the subject(s) is to be deducted from the total marks and pass marks of the compartmental examination shall be added to the total marks for arriving at the effective percentage of marks.

6. AGE

6.1 Candidates shall not be below 18 years of age and above 38 years of age as on the date of publication of advertisement.

Provided that the relaxation in upper age limit shall be allowed to the candidates of different Social/Special categories in the following manner:

1. In case of ST, SC, Women & SEBC candidates,the upper age limit shall be relaxed by 05 years
2. In case of PwD candidates the upper age limit shall be relaxed by10 years.
3. In case of ex-servicemen G.A. Department Notification No.22586/Gen., dated 16.10.1985 will apply.

For relaxation of the upper age limit to different categories of candidates, the OCS (Fixation of upper Age Limit) Rules,1989 and other relevant rules/instructions shall be followed.

6.2 Government by Notification may allow specific group/category of candidates to avail age relaxation, if considered appropriate.

7. RESERVATION

7.1 The Orissa Reservation Vacancies Posts & Services (for Scheduled castes & Scheduled Tribes) Act,1975, along with the rules made there under and OCS (Reservation of Vacancies for Women in Public Services) Rules,1994 such other principles of reservation as prescribed by the State Government from time to time shall be followed. In case of PwD candidates, provisions contained in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act,2016 and G.A. & P.G Department instructions thereof shall be followed.

7.2 The PwD candidates having temporary disability shall not be entertained for engagement. The candidates those will avail the reservation/relaxation of age limit under provisions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act,2016shall have to appear before the State Appellate Medical Board before their engagement and their engagement will be subject to clearance by the Board.

7.3 Candidates under reserved category availing relaxation of age or qualifying marks shall be considered under their Social Category only.

8. SELECTION PROCEDURE

8.1 Publication of Master List

After expiry of last date of submission of online application form, list of the candidates for each category with respect to their first preference district as submitted by them at the time of submission of application form will be published in OSEPA website. Information on subsequent preference districts of each candidate will also be available in OSEPA website on search.

8.2 Online Computer-Based Test

An online computer-based test will be conducted by OSEPA /an Authorised Agency as per the syllabus contained in the advertisement to be published before the recruitment.

8.3 District wise and Category wise draft merit list

District wise and category wise draft merit list will be published in OSEPA website. Draft merit list will be prepared taking into consideration all district preference submitted by individual candidates in order of preference followed by merit rank i.e. for a particular district, after exhausting all candidates having 1st preference, subsequent preferences will be considered. In case of a tie i.e. when two or more candidates obtain equal score, inter-se merit of such candidates shall be decided in the order as mentioned below:

1. Date of birth (Older candidate will be above other candidates)
2. Percentage of marks in qualifying examination i.e in Higher Secondary (or its equivalent) will be considered. In case of further tie, marks secured in Graduation will be taken into consideration followed by post-Graduation marks.

If a tie still persists, Government will issue suitable instructions for breaking the tie.

For a particular post, in a category within district, district preference will be preferred over merit.

8.4 Document verification

After publication of the draft merit list, all candidates in the said list will be called for verification of original documents at their respective district headquarters. All documents required for verification will be notified by OSEPA in the detailed advertisement in OSEPA website.

During document verification, if any candidate is not able to produce the essential document(s) in support of his/her claim of the Social/Special category/Age proof/Academic & Training qualification/RCI registration certificate as per information provided in the application form, the candidature will be rejected and his/her name will be marked as deleted in the draft merit list. The candidates have to produce the Academic and Training qualification/RCI registration certificate (in case of Special Education Candidates) acquired/issued on or before the last date of submission of online application.

8.5 Preparation of District wise Provisional Merit List and Approval

Provisional merit list will be prepared after document verification of the candidates placed in the draft merit list. Then objections will be invited from the candidates who are placed in the provisional merit list and rejection list. The provisional merit list will be approved by the Competent Authorities at respective districts after verification of the original documents and inviting objections from candidates within specific time period as mentioned in the calendar of activities issued by the School & Mass Education Department.

8.6 Publication of District wise Final Merit List

District wise final merit list will be published at concerned District websites as well as OSEPA website after approval by the Competent Authority.

8.7 Counselling

The candidates will be called for allocation of schools through counselling by respective districts. Separate notifications will be issued and displayed by respective districts in their District websites as well as OSEPA website. Vacancies remain due to unavailability of eligible candidates, rejection and non-joining will be carried forward and recruitment will be done subsequently as per requirement. There will be no waiting list.

9. ENGAGEMENT

9.1 Junior Teacher (Schematic) will be engaged in each Revenue District by the respective Zilla Parishad by a selection committee headed by the Collector-cum-Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad as Chairman and District Education Officer, All the Block Education Officers of the district, District Project Coordinator (SS), District Employment Officer and the District Welfare Officer as the members. The District Project Coordinator (SS) will act as convener of the committee and shall prepare the draft select list and place the same before the Zilla Parishad with due approval of Collector-cum-CEO, Zilla Parishad. The final selection will be made by Zilla Parishad within a maximum of 15 days. In case, the Zilla Parishad does not approve the select list within the stipulated time, the draft select list submitted with due approval of the Collector-cum-CEO, Zilla Parishad will be deemed to be approved.

9.2 The select list for each Revenue District will be valid for a period of one year from the date of its publication or till exhaustion of valid merit list or till publication of next advertisement, whichever is earlier.

9.3 Orders of engagement shall be issued by the Zilla Parishad through its CEO.

9.4 The engagement will be on Annual Agreement basis. Agreement will be renewed in subsequent years depending on the performance of the candidates. Prior to renewal of the agreement of the Junior Teacher (Schematic), the Junior Teacher (Schematic) has to obtain a certificate from the concerned Headmaster regarding his/her regular attendance and satisfactory service which is to be produced before the Zilla Parishad. The Junior Teacher (Schematic) can be disengaged from the service with a prior notice of 30 days, if she/he violates the conditions of the agreement on the basis of adverse report of the Block Education Officer i.e. on un-authorised absence/misconduct/involvement in criminal cases etc.

10. ASSIGNMENT

10.1 The Junior Teacher (Schematic) shall perform the following duties.

1. Teaching in the school shall be the main duty of the Junior Teacher (Schematic)
2. They must maintain regularity and punctuality in attending school.
3. They must ensure completion of entire curriculum within the specified time.
4. They must assess the learning ability of each child and accordingly supplement additional instructions as required.
5. They must ensure minimum level of learning (MLL) for the students as prescribed by the Competent Authority (School & Mass Education Department)
6. They must ensure at least 90% attendance of the children in respective schools in all classes.
7. They shall reduce the drop out of the children in the school.
8. They shall motivate the parents/ guardians of the village in which primary school is situated for enrolment of children within the age group of 6 to 14 years. It shall be his/her duty to contact parents/guardians in case children fail to attend classes regularly and get back such children to the classes.
9. They will hold regular meeting with parents and guardians and appraise them about the regularity in attendance, ability to learn, progress made in learning and any other relevant information about the child.
10. They shall abide by the policy of rationalization of teachers of the Government as issued from time to time.
11. They shall perform the duties as will be entrusted upon him/her by the concerned Head Master or Head Mistress.
12. They may be assigned any other work in furtherance of the objective of universalisation of Primary Education/RTE Act by Chief Executive Officer, Zilla Parishad or any other authority as decided by Government in School & Mass Education Department from time to time.
13. They shall perform all such other duties as assigned to them by the competent authority as and when required.
14. The engagement shall be cancelled, if any fraudulent testimonial is detected in future or if she/he has been criminally proceeded against.

10.2 The data of all newly recruited Junior Teacher (Schematic) would be recorded in the teacher profile.

10.3 The Junior Teacher (Schematic) will get consolidated monthly remuneration as decided by Government from time to time.

10.4 The Junior Teacher (Schematic) would attend training programme as may be fixed by Government from time to time.

10.5 The engagement would be on the basis of annual agreement. In case Zilla Parishad decided not to renew the agreement, appeal shall lie to the Government within three months of non-renewal of agreement.

10.6 The Junior Teacher (Schematic) shall be eligible for casual leave of 15 days during one calendar year. She/he shall not be entitled to any other authorised absence beyond the above-mentioned period. If she/he remains absent with permission and if she/he does not have any authorised leave at her/his credit, the proportionate amount from consolidated remuneration shall be deducted. Any absence of more than 30 days beyond the casual leave of 15 days in one Agreement period will be treated as unauthorised absence and while calculating the period of 03 years for Junior Teachers and 06 years for Regular Teachers, similar period will be added to either 03 or 06 years of eligibility to be Junior Teacher or Regular Teacher, as the case may be.

10.7 Any Lady Junior Teacher (Schematic) who is having less than two surviving children is entitled to avail six months leave or a period as decided by the Government from time to time on account of maternity. In case, the date of renewal of agreement falls during maternity leave, the Junior Teacher (Schematic) will renew the annual agreement immediately on joining. In case, she does not join after availing six months of maternity leave, such period of absence from duty will be treated as unauthorised and she will work similar period as Junior Teacher (Schematic) or Junior Teacher to be eligible to be Junior Teacher or Regular Teacher as the case may be.

10.8 The agreement as prescribed by Government, between Collector-cum-C.E.O., Zilla Parishad and Junior Teacher (Schematic) is to be executed on stamped paper.

10.9 Funds as required for remuneration for Junior Teacher (Schematic) for each district will be placed with the respective Zilla Parishads who shall pay to the Junior Teacher (Schematic).

10.10 The provisions contained in Para 10.1 to 10.9 will also be applicable to the Junior Teachers.

10.11 For any clarification on the above provisions, the same be obtained from Government of Odisha in School & Mass Education Department.