Will recruit 5,000 teachers soon: Cheema

Sarbjit Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 2

Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema said the Education Department had sought Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s approval to create a separate directorate within the department to recruit teachers for government schools. He said once they got the clearance, 5,000 teachers would be recruited to fill vacant posts in primary schools. He said the teachers would be selected on merit. He said they would overhaul the system soon.

He said they were yet to assess the number of vacant posts in middle and higher secondary schools. Cheema said the posts would be filled as per the subjects. He said there were 19,500 government schools with 26.70 lakh students enrolled. The number of teachers is 1.09 lakh.

There were about 250 schools with student strength of less than 10. In one school, there were only two students, he said. “We have not closed these schools, but most have been attached with other schools located at a distance of 1 km. However, we are trying to work out a solution where the schools are more than a kilometre away. We will detach these schools once an adequate number of students have been enrolled,” Cheema said.

“We have identified 10 schools in each district with the lowest pass percentage in English. A reorientation course for teachers of such schools has been planned. The SCERT has been given a special fund of Rs 1 crore to organise training sessions for these teachers,” he said.

Cheema said taking into consideration the demand for opening more schools for meritorious students, the government had approved three more schools. Already, there are six such schools running in the state.

He said the Career Guidance and Counselling Cell had been restructured. All counsellors were taken on a tour to various institutions to provide them with firsthand knowledge about the courses being run at various places. A seven-day workshop was organised for them. He said they would get further training at the Mahatama Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration.

A team has been deputed at the headquarters to inform students of Classes X and XII through SMS about the useful courses being run by various institutions. He said the cell had gathered mobile phone numbers of 2.78 lakh students.

To launch new vocational courses, an MoU has been signed with the National Skill Development Corporation. Under it, new courses such as beauty and wellness, healthcare, automobile repair, retail would be launched in 100 schools for 5,000 students. Such courses would run simultaneously with classes starting from 9th to 12th standard.

The courses that would be on a par with industrial training courses would enable students to get a job. Cheema said free coaching classes were being run for science students. Physical education teachers would be trained at the NIS and the PAP Training School.

Cheema said in a year, he would make the transfer system transparent. He said the lists of vacant posts would be uploaded on their website.