Primary Teachers Protest HTET Rule, Unpaid Census Dues

GURUGRAM: Government primary school teachers in the district staged a protest on Thursday and sent a memorandum to the state government, demanding that the Haryana Teacher Eligibility Test (HTET) not be made compulsory for teachers appointed before 2010 and that months of pending census-duty payments be cleared.

The protest was organised by the Gurugram unit of the Rajkiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh Haryana, an association of primary teachers, at the mini-secretariat.

At the centre of the anger is a directive issued by the school education department on September 14. It says teachers with more than five years of service left, counted from September 1, 2025, must clear HTET at their teaching level and in their subject. Those who do not qualify will have to leave service or face compulsory retirement. Teachers with less than five years to go have been exempted from the requirement to stay in service, but they will not be considered for promotion unless they pass the test.

The department has linked the order to the Supreme Court's September 1, 2025, judgment in the Anjuman Ishaat-e-Taleem Trust case and a review order of May 29, 2026. It has also asked the Board of School Education, Bhiwani, to hold HTET twice a year so that teachers get more attempts.

## "No such rule when we joined"

Ashok Prajapati, president of the union's Gurugram unit, said the condition was unfair to senior staff. "These teachers have taught students for 25 to 30 years, and asking them to qualify an examination at this stage of their careers is unjust," he said.

Dushyant Thakran, patron of the union, said pre-2010 recruits should be exempted. "When teachers appointed before 2010 entered service, no such rule was applicable, and a new eligibility condition should not be imposed on them now," he said.

## Census work, unpaid

The second grievance is money. The union alleged that nearly 90% of primary teachers were put on census-related work about four months ago and have still not received the prescribed remuneration.

Prajapati said several teachers were posted for census duties in blocks up to 30 km from their own schools, which created problems especially for women teachers.

The association also objected to primary teachers being pulled out of classrooms for other non-academic assignments, including work linked to the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. It alleged that nearly 90% of primary teachers had been taken away for such duties, leaving some schools running with a single teacher. The union asked why primary teachers were picked again and again for administrative work and wanted such duties shared equally across all teaching cadres.

Sumita Rangi, district elementary education officer, Gurugram, said the matter was beyond her jurisdiction and she could not comment on it.

The HTET directive applies across Haryana, so the pressure on the department is unlikely to stay limited to one district. For Gurugram's government primary schools, where the union says staff are already stretched by outside duties, the next test dates set by the Bhiwani board will matter as much as any change in policy.