Students of Jagannath University (JnU) and job seekers staged a protest march on campus on Monday, demanding the retention of the centralised recommendation system of Non-Government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) for recruiting teachers at non-government educational institutions.
The demonstrators also strongly protested against the proposed committee- or institution-based recruitment system.
The protest march began around 5pm from the university’s Open Library premises. Students from various departments of the university, NTRCA-registered job seekers, and advocates for merit-based recruitment participated in the demonstration.
The march paraded through various campus roads before exiting through main gate and proceeding towards Johnson Road.
During the march, demonstrators chanted slogans such as “We want evaluation of merit,” “NTRCA must be retained,” “No nepotism in teacher recruitment,” and “We won’t accept committee system.”
Speaking at the rally, protesters highlighted that teachers are currently recommended for recruitment in non-government educational institutions based on examinations and merit through NTRCA.
They expressed deep concern that replacing this with a recruitment system run by managing committees or governing bodies would severely reduce transparency and accountability.
The demonstrators said numerous registered candidates across the country have already proven their competence by passing the teacher registration exams.
Preparing themselves for teaching profession with full faith in a merit-based system, they demanded that opinions of registered candidates and relevant stakeholders must be taken before making any structural changes to recruitment system.
The protesters argued that maintaining a centralised, technology-driven recruitment framework makes it significantly easier to ensure transparency.
On the contrary, allowing individual institutional committees to handle recruitment would open the door to widespread irregularities, lobbying, and favouritism.
From the gathering, the demonstrators placed three core demands: retention of NTRCA’s central recommendation system, assurance of merit-based recruitment, and thorough consideration of the anxieties of job seekers regarding the proposed recruitment structure.
The protesters warned of launching larger programmes if their demands are not implemented.
