Class eight to shift to primary slab in Gujarat

GANDHINAGAR - The Gujarat government proposes to bring a bill in the state assembly’s budget session, opening Wednesday, that will transfer class eight from the secondary slab of education to the primary one.

The move is expected to throw open job avenues to an additional 45,000 Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) teachers over the next three years, though the shift will entail an additional expenditure of Rs.900 crore, highly-placed sources in the education department said Tuesday.

The teachers will initially be recruited as ‘vidya sahayaks’ (education assistants) on a fixed salary of Rs.3,500 per month and later, after a fixed period, would be given the full grade entailing an additional expenditure of Rs.450 crore a year.

A decision to this effect has been taken after the results of a massive exercise carried out by the state government in November last were reviewed.

In a one of its kind initiative directed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, the entire secretariat-based top brass of the government, comprising 450 officers and 9,000 subordinate officers, were fanned out for an in-depth inspection of 32,000 primary schools in the state.

The review of the inspection result exposed the weakness in the primary education system and pinned the blame on the quality of Primary Teaching Certificate (PTC) teaching.

Highly-placed sources in the education department said the shifting class eight from secondary to primary level will benefit the students who will now be covered under the mid-day meal scheme and a total of nine lakh students will get access to free education.

The bill, to be moved by Education Minister Ramanlal Vora, will usher in changes in the state’s educational structure in keeping with those proposed by the central government.