Govt-aided schools cry for help - Seek recruitment as 50% of posts of teachers lying vacant for last 9 years

Tuesday, 03/07/2012

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120703/punjab.htm#2

The Right to Education (RTE) Act recommends a teacher-student ratio of 1:30. But, there is a government-aided school in Faridkot where the count is as high as 1: 160.

For taking care of 800 students, Faridkot’s MGM School has a mere five teachers. Similar is the condition of other aided private schools, 484 in all in Punjab, where no recruitment has been done for the last nine years. It was in May 2003 that the state government banned fresh hiring of teachers in these schools.

While no new teachers were appointed, 5,100 of the existing 10,000 faculty have retired in these nine years.

Punjab Government-aided Schools Management Association chief Sewa Singh Chawla said that due to the “apathetic” attitude of the state government, many of these schools had either closed or were on the brink of closure. He demanded that the government should frame a concrete policy for reviving these schools. In case that could not be done, an official declaration about their closure should be issued, he said.

On December 1, 1967, the state government approved 95 per cent grant-in-aid for 522 private schools in Punjab. After the management of 38 schools handed over their reins to the state, the government sanctioned 9,997 posts of teacher for 484 schools.

But in May 2003, the government banned fresh recruitment. As a result, more than 50 per cent of posts are now vacant in these schools. Besides, 140 of them are without a headmaster, said association chief adviser ML Chopra. He said GMN High School in Ropar only had six teachers against the sanctioned strength of 18. The condition is even worse at Kalgidhar Kanya Paathshala in Pathankot, which only a part-time sweeper. Another school in the city, Sarswati Arya School, had already been closed.

While at present these schools are charging a nominal fee from students, but once the RTE is implemented, there would be no tuition fee. Therefore, it would mean more trouble for them.

In urban area, these schools cater to the educational needs of middle-class families. In Ludhiana alone, there are 22 aided schools against the eight government schools. In Ropar, there are seven such schools against two government schools.

When contacted, Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka said the recruitment process in these schools was being discussed with the Chief Minister.