Medical, earned leave of SSA, RMSA teachers cancelled

Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, November 1

Bothered by the frequent en mass leave of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) teachers, the Education Department has decided to cancel their earned and medical leaves. In a late night development on Wednesday, the Education Department issued a notice to implement its previous order of the 2014 leave policy, whereby, only 15 casual and 180 maternal leaves were granted to the SSA and RMSA teachers. 

The Education Department claimed that teachers, recruited under the SSA and RMSA, were misusing their medical and earned leaves granted to them by the 2017 notification. Citing the reason of taking back its circular dated 17-10-2017, officials of the Education Department said they were receiving complaints from school heads regarding teachers taking unnecessary leaves. 

A senior official of the Education Department said exams were approaching in the next month, and the study of students was affected due to frequent leave of teachers, which prompted them to take this step.

Rejecting the Education Department’s claim, Davinder Punia, co-convener, Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha, said, “The study of students is affected by the wrong policies of the state government and not by the protest. More than 20,000 posts are lying vacant. Why the department is not filling these posts immediately to save students studies in Punjab.” 

Protesting teachers alleged that the move was aimed to scuttle the ongoing indefinite strike by Sanjha Adhyapak Morcha in Patiala. Reacting to the government’s decision, union leader Vikram Dev said, “We strongly condemn the government’s decision. The Education Department is going all-out to thwart the protest, but our protest will continue come what may.” 

In fact, every day, teachers from some districts are reaching Patiala turn wise to participate in the protest. On Thursday, teachers from Fatehgarh Sahib, Kapurthala and Fazilka districts participated in the protest. In the evening, teachers also burnt an effigy of the Education Secretary near Dukhniwaran Sahib Gurdwara.