GUWAHATI, Sept 3 - �Teachers must commit themselves to the cause of creating capable citizens for the country as primary schoolteachers are the agents of change for the society who can instil good qualities in the students from a nascent stage,� Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today said while taking part as the chief guest in the ceremony for distributing appointment letters to 6,172 TET-qualified teachers at elementary schools under Sarba Siksha Abhiyan, Assam, at Veterinary College Playground, Khanapara in the city.
Urging the newly appointed teachers to take up the responsibility of spreading light of education in the far flung and remote areas of the State, Sonowal said that teaching is not a mere profession but an opportunity to serve the society and to become partners in nation building by shaping the future generations of the country and he urged the teachers to perform their duties with gyan (knowledge), bhakti (devotion) and boiragi (sacrifice).
�For building a society based on equality where all people are empowered to lead a life of dignity and to meet modern day challenges like corruption and increasing crimes, the education system must produce citizens with high moral values and integrity.� Sonowal said.
Saying that the government is striving to facilitate an environment for growth and economic progress in the State so that meritorious and brilliant students do not need to go outside the State for finding employment and live a better life, Sonowal informed that State government�s plans to build International Trade Centre in Guwahati with twin towers of 65 floors and expansion of the Guwahati city for creating State Capital Region are steps towards making Guwahati the gateway to southeast Asia. The Trade Centre will bring global industrial players to the State who will set up their bases here for doing business in southeast Asia and it will create a lot of employment opportunities for the youth of the State, Sonowal said.
Reiterating Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s vision for the Northeast region to become the new engine of growth for the country, Chief Minister Sonowal said that some elements are trying to foment trouble in the State by inciting the people of different religious faiths and linguistic groups against each other and he called on the people to maintain age-old peace and harmony to defeat all such designs of forces inimical to the State�s growth and development.
�It was our electoral promise to recruit 28,000 TET-qualified teachers and we are on our way to fulfil that promise,� Sonowal said, while informing that an ACS Training Centre would be set up at Umrangsu in Dima Hasao district covering an area of 1,000 bighas which would be able to provide training to not only Assam Civil Service officers, but also to officers of other State civil services as well.
Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that till now 17,000 TET-qualified teachers have been recruited in three phases and another 10,000 teachers would be given appointment on September 8, 2017. He expressed happiness that TET has made the teacher recruitment process in the government schools completely transparent and eliminated all scopes for corruption from the system.
Urging all TET-qualified elementary school teachers to enrol themselves at the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) website by September 15, 2017, for obtaining DElEd (Diploma in Elementary Education) within March 2019, Sarma stated that without the diploma, all those teachers working in the State would have to lose their jobs as Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, has mandated teachers to have DElEd as minimum qualification for teaching from April 1, 2019.
A �One Day Orientation Programme� for newly recruited TET-passed teachers of elementary education was also organised by Sarba Siksha Abhiyan, Assam, in collaboration with Krishna Kanta Handique State Open University.
Commissioner and Secretary of Elementary Education Department, Pritam Saikia; Commissioner and Secretary of Secondary Education Department, RC Jain; Mission Director SSA, Assam, Aruna Rajoria; Vice-Chancellor of KKHSOU, Hitesh Deka; were also present on the occasion, among others.
