Edu Secy releases list of directions to schools

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 21

In view of the feedback from district education officers, teachers’ unions as well as the general public and based on reports carried in the media from time to time, the government school heads have been told to act on various issues which remain unaddressed in government schools in the state.

A letter in this regard has been released by the Education Secretary to schools.

The directions include various issues, from the duty of principals to the judicious use of electricity and exhortation to teachers and the Education Department staff not to believe in fake letters or communiqués released in the name of the Education Department by anti-social elements.

The letter tells the school principals to also take classes themselves. School heads have been directed to hold classes on subjects in which they have received promotions. And shall lodge the results of the annual results of board classes in their annual confidential reports.

The school heads have also been directed to make proper attendance entries in the registers. The department says while usually it has been noticed that teachers are expected to make their own entries on registers, but those of the principals and school heads are usually omitted. They have, hence, been asked to make the requisite entries with details and timings of their leaving and visiting the school also being duly lodged in the attendance registers.

The staff has also been directed to curb the excessive use of electrical appliances at the school, as the department officials on their visits have also noted the unnecessary use of fans and lights and leaving them on in labs, classrooms and rooms even when no child or teacher is present there.

Instructions regarding the administering of all clerical work only by clerks – and not by teachers – as is being done at some schools, have also been issued. Teachers have been told to make sure that in schools, especially where posts of clerk exist, no clerical work should be handled by them. A memo regarding this had also earlier been issued in the year by the Education Department.

Other instructions issued to schools include – directions to schools not to harass teachers and to release their service records within seven days of these being sought, rather than inconveniencing them and delaying the release of the records; not to harass students regarding producing hard copies of previous school-leaving certificates and to retrieve this from the school database instead; not to send teachers on duty for trivial affairs or presentation of posts to the DEO offices; to pay special attention on keeping wash rooms clean; a mobile app to be released regarding mid-day meal records and the maintenance of proper registers to maintain mid-day meal cash details; not to put duties of teachers for mid-day meal work in upper primary schools.

Other instructions released in the letter include directions on claiming unscheduled leaves, register entries to be made regarding leaves taken by teachers, appointment of public information officers as per the RTI Act; not to believe in fake letters released on the name of the Education Department by anti-social elements; addressing of students by school heads in morning assemblies and mandatory computer education in middle schools.