Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Aug 18: Hundreds of unemployed Physical Education Teacher (PET) aspirants from across Jammu and Kashmir today staged a peaceful protest outside the Press Club Jammu, urging the Government to address the long-pending issue of recruitment in the Physical Education sector.
The protesters said that no recruitment for PETs has been held for the past 8-9 years either by the JKSSB or the JKPSC, leaving thousands of qualified candidates-holding MPEd, BPEd, BPE, PG Diplomas, and sports certifications-jobless. They expressed resentment over the exclusion of Physical Education from the recent JKPSC 10+2 Lecturer Recruitment Drive, terming it “grave injustice.”
“The Government has been regularly advertising posts for other teaching subjects, but Physical Education is being ignored without any justification, jeopardizing our careers as well as the health-oriented future of students,” said one of the aspirants.
The protesters also criticized the authorities for failing to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which lays emphasis on Physical Education, Yoga, and Sports at all school levels. They noted that unlike other subjects, Physical Education offers no private-sector avenues, leaving Government jobs as the only option.
Highlighting that many aspirants are crossing the upper age limit due to recruitment delays, the protesters demanded immediate defreezing and advertisement of PET posts, inclusion of Physical Education in the Lecturer Recruitment Drive, compulsory introduction of the subject from Class 6th to 12th in line with NEP 2020, a transparent annual recruitment calendar, and age relaxation for aspirants.
They appealed to the Lieutenant Governor-led administration to take urgent measures to safeguard the careers of thousands of trained Physical Education professionals in the Union Territory.
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