Chandigarh, April 13
As many as 170 students appeared for the English and Language (Hindi, Punjabi) papers in the second phase of admissions to the smart sections of four schools at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, here, today.

These students appeared for 20 per cent of the total seats which were reserved for those students who have passed the middle standard examination through private schools of Chandigarh as well as those from other states.

The four schools - Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 16; GMSSS (19); GMSSS (33) and GMSSS (46) - have been chosen to be converted into smart section schools. The GMSSS-16 has been selected as the centralised test centre for admission to these four schools.

According to sources, the marking will be done tomorrow.

The date for the mathematics paper has been fixed for April 16.

The student strength will be restricted to 40 in each section and the selection criteria is strictly based on merit. Under the scheme, these students will have to pay Rs 300 per head, in addition to the normal fee. 

Chandigarh, April 13
Only one out of the eight schools in the residential areas of Mani Majra shortlisted for accommodating students has met the requirement of the Chandigarh administration.

According to education department officials, Little Flower School, having an area of 1 acre and located on a wide road, has fit the administration’s bill and has been selected for the job. The decision in this regard has been taken, according to a report submitted to the DPI schools by the chief architect.

“It’s a double-storey building with 10 classrooms (size 20x26 feet)to accommodate 500 students. It fulfils the basic conditions put forth by the administration”, said an official.

In the wake of the closure of the schools that were being run from residential complexes, a survey was conducted by a team of the administration on Wednesday.

An inspection team consisting of chief architect Sunita Monga, senior standing counsel Anupam Gupta, DPI schools S.K. Setia, senior town planner M.L. Arora and MC executive engineer visited the site and found it fit for the purpose.

The chief architect today submitted a report to Setia after assessing the status of the schools being run in Mani Majra in residential and non-residential buildings.

The eight schools inspected by the team were: Vedic Girls Senior Secondary School, three branches of MRD Model Middle Schools, National Pride Middle Model School, Jatindra Middle School, TD Middle Model School and Little Flower School.

The focus was to see if the schools had provisions for playground, assembly area, entry/exit, circulation, toilets, light and ventilation, etc.

According to educational officials, the decision has been taken bearing in mind the Union Development Plan Formulation and Implementation Guidelines, which say that the area required for a primary school should be one acre, for high school 4 acre and middle school 1.5 acre.

“These are the basic bylaws that need to be fulfilled by all means. Apart from this, adequate play-grounds and open spaces, etc. for outdoor activities of students are mandatory to uplift the mental faculty of students,” said Setia.

According to the report submitted to Setia, most of the examined schools lacked supporting infrastructure and only had classrooms that too were not of adequate size.

“Since supporting infrastructure was a prerequisite, on examining these minutely we found that except Little Flower School, no other school fulfilled the basic criteria,” said Setia.

The Chandigarh administration has also decided to start a school of two shifts in the community centre adjacent to the Modern Complex, Mani Majra and a second shift school at Little Flower School, Mani Majra.

Around 800 students will be accommodated in two shifts at community centre building and around 400 students will be adjusted in the second shift at Little Flower School building.

However, the administration has taken the physical possession of the community centre.

Stating this, Setia said: “Yes, our representative has been handed over the physical possession of the community centre so that the extension of GMSSS, Modern Housing Complex, can be started.”

Chandigarh, April 13
As many as 67 JBT teachers were selected by the Chandigarh Education Department here today. Out of 140 selected teachers, only 67 teachers could produce their medical fitness certificate by the stipulated date.

“The selected teachers have been informed by phone to report at the office of the DPI (S) by April 14 as it will be a working day tomorrow,” said DPI (S) S.K. Setia.

According to sources at the education department, most of the teachers will cater to the demand of government schools at Manimajra.

Around 30 teachers will be deputed at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Modern Complex, Manimajra, 11 teachers will join Government Model School, Manimajra town, 10 teachers will join Government Model High School, Manimajra while four and three teachers have been assigned to Primary School I and II, respectively. Remaining teachers will join government schools of Chandigarh. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 13
The DAV College teaching and non-teaching unions held a dharna today in front of the office of the college principal as a part of their ongoing struggle to get the statutory provisions of the Panjab University calendar implemented with respect to the encashment of earned leave and deduction of provident fund on total salary.

Union leaders, including R.K. Anand, Prof Anil Sarwal, Prof Sudhir Sharma and Prof R.P. Singh, appealed to the college management to concede to the demands of the employees at an early date. The union leaders gave a brief history of the 22-year-old struggle of the union to get the provident fund deducted on total salary. The union has also been fighting since 1990 to get the encashment of earned leave. Unfortunately, the college authorities had refused to meet these demands. However, now it has come under heavy pressure from the Panjab University authorities as well as the DPI (C). The DPI has recently written to the college authorities to explain why they are not following the statutes.

The two teacher representatives in the governing body of the college, Dr R.P. Singh and Prof A.K. Taneja, would be writing to all members of the governing body to grant the genuine dues to the college employees. Even MCM College employees have joined the struggle to get these statutory provisions implemented and the SD College authorities have already announced the deduction of provident fund on total salary for their employees.

To mark the beginning of the harvest season, a colourful Baisakhi festival was celebrated with a great enthusiasm at Sharda Sarv Hitkari Senior Secondary School, Sector 40, Chandigarh, today.

The programme commenced with a brief talk on the importance of Baisakhi and Khalsa Panth. The freedom fighter who sacrificed their lives in Jallianwala Baag massacre were remembered. Birthdays of Dr Ambedkar and Sh Narayan Dass, organising secretary of the Vidya Bharti Society were also celebrated. KV High Grounds: Principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya AFS High Grounds S.K. Bhatia congratulated the staff and students on the occasion of Baisakhi reiterating that such festivals were the spirit and soul of our rich cultural heritage.

Sanjay Public School-44: Fun and frolic marked the Baisakhi celebrations held on the school campus today. The children were told about the importance of the festival for everyone, especially the Punjabi farmers. Various activities such as kite making, kite flying etc were organised.

Chandigarh, April 13
Government colleges in the city have been without regular principals for the past five years, forcing these colleges to make do with officiating principals only.

Educationists claim that in the absence of regular principals, administrative work is being severely hampered.

Moreover, unlike regular principals, officiating ones do not have regular grades. Even post-retirement benefits are given corresponding to those of lecturers only.

Also, regular principals have their representation in Panjab University’s senate as well, a privilege that officiating principals don’t have.

The post of principal is filled either through direct recruitment or promotion of the existing staff.

One of the reasons cited for this is the delay in holding of a meeting by the departmental promotion committee of the UPSC.

DPI (Colleges) Raji P. Srivastava said: “Already eight of our senior lecturers are in consideration of departmental promotion committee to be held by the UPSC.”

On the issue of lapses by the UPSC, she said the matter had been pursued for quite some time now.

“I had even called up the UPSC chairman personally last year but nothing came out of it.”

Ironically, Dr K.S. Saluja, former head of the department of mathematics, Government College for Girls, Sector 11, who was selected by the UPSC through direct recruitment around six months ago, has been appointed officiating principal of Government College, Sector 46.

And, there is a twist in the tale. “Though we got UPSC’s recommendations, the commission did not recommend it as a clear case. His case is in the final stages of consideration, as legal opinion had been sought. Legal counsel has made certain observations, which are to be looked into first. Since the process will take some time, he has been given the charge as officiating principal,” she said.

In spite of the efforts of the administration, the future of aspirants in terms of their becoming full-fledged principals of colleges they have served for so many years looks bleak.

Many senior lecturers serving as officiating principals have retired without having been made regular principals.

Speaking about the issue, Pahlad Aggarwal, deputy director (colleges), said: “The office is already working in this direction to get the DPC meeting under way at the earliest.”

Chandigarh, April 13
Civil Judge, Junior Division (Chandigarh), Sudeep Goel today issued notice to K.S. Kohli and Rakesh Aggarwal, chairman and managing director, respectively, of the Frankfinn Institute of the Airhostess Institute of Training, on an injunction suit filed by the National Consumer Welfare Council.

Through the suit, council chairman Navjit Singh Brar sought directions to the management of the training institute to stop admission to the institute as the literature published by it was misleading.

Directions were also sought to refund the fee charged from students who did not get jobs as promised in the literature.

The complainant alleged that onboard airhostess training was not mandatory for the selection of airhostess.

It added that the lease agreement to use discarded aircraft for training of the recruits had also expired.

On behalf of the council, the case was argued by Arvind Thakur, Neelam Singh and Narinder Mahajan. — TNS