Staff recruitment for tribal schools should be done by states: DMK MP

New Delhi: DMK MP Tiruchi Siva on Thursday urged the government to hand back the responsibility of staff recruitment for the Ekalavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS) to state governments.

Speaking during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Siva cited concerns over decreased student engagement due to hiring of individuals from North India for schools in the South.

The MP highlighted the inefficiencies arising from the recent shift in recruitment from state governments to the National Education Society for Tribal Students (NESTS).

This centralised approach, aimed at addressing teacher shortages across 400 EMRS by filling 38,000 positions nationally, has led to unintended consequences, according to Siva.

"The first batch of 303 principals, 707 junior secretarial assistants, and other staff now primarily consists of individuals from North Indian states appointed across South India," Siva said.

He argued that this mismatch is detrimental to education, where understanding local tribal culture and context is crucial.

The DMK leader pointed out that the mandatory Hindi requirement in hiring criteria has resulted in communication gaps, affecting teaching effectiveness. "New staff members are burdened with learning the local language within two years," he added.

Siva urged the government to revert the recruitment responsibility to respective state governments.

"Education is on the concurrent list. I urge the government to bring it back to the state list," he emphasised, calling for serious consideration of the issue.