Meritorious Teachers Union seeks regularisation of services

The city-based unit of the Meritorious Teachers Union Punjab burnt flag of the Punjab Government in front of the Meritorious School today to express anger against the ruling dispensation’s complacency in regularisation of service.

State leader Sukhjit Singh said, “The government has backtracked from its earlier promise regularisation of teachers of Meritorious Schools. Teachers in all meritorious schools of Punjab are highly qualified. They have mentored government school students to clear 243 NEET and 118 JE Main examination.”

“Meritorious Schools have been established as elite schools in which selected and highly competitive students are taught, but the government has undermined our status by keeping us in a limbo over regularisation, which is pending since past nine years,” said Sukhjit.

District president Daljit Kaur said, “Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has not called meeting with teachers, despite being approached multiple times. The government, which came to power on the promise of uplifting education and health sector, is now dodging teachers.” “Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, who is otherwise busy touring schools, has not once lent us an ear. Our patience has run out. If the government still fails to resolve demands of teachers, then we will be forced to take the path of struggle,” she said.

She claimed that a meeting of the sub-Cabinet committee on this matter had been postponed.

Meritorious Schools, initially set up by the SAD government in 2015 with an aim of giving access to free of cost quality education to deserving students from government schools, seem to have been overshadowed by the much hyped Schools of Eminence.

These schools provide free of cost education, including extra coaching, to students for competitive exams. Meritorious School in Amritsar is among the high-intake schools in the category, with strength of 500 students (Class XI and XII) and a staff of 42 faculty members. All staff appointed for Meritorious Schools is highly qualified. Since 2015, this staff has not been regularised.