Edu Dept’s move to revert teachers stirs controversy

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 19 

The move of the School Education Department to revert hundreds of teachers from their post of lecturer to master cadre in government schools has stirred a controversy.

On Tuesday, the School Education Department released a list of over 30,000 teachers. On the list, many teachers (master cadre) have been promoted as lecturers. But, many lecturers, who were promoted from master cadre in 2008, 2012 and 2016, have been reverted.

Union members have welcomed the move to promote teachers. However, they expressed their resentment against the School Education Department for reverting lecturers working in schools.

“It is quite strange and humiliating that after promoting many teachers 10 year ago and they kept teaching Class XI and XII students in senior secondary schools, the Education Department is now reverting them to master cadre,” said Prem Chalwa, senior vice-president of the Government School Teachers’ Union.

“These teachers were promoted after the Departmental Promotion Committee had judged their cases in the presence of Personnel Department and they were promoted as lecturers. Now without any reason, they are being reverted. It is a big blunder and we will oppose it,” said Darshan Singh Sarabha, the patron of the union.

While issuing the promotion and reversion orders on Tuesday, the School Education Department sought to convey that the new revised list of the promoted teachers have been prepared according to the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s given in December 2016.

While disposing of a bunch of 70 writ petitions on December 16, 2016, the High Court had ordered the School Education Department to recast a joint seniority list of all masters/mistresses appointed till December 16, 2016.

According to the order, a public notice of at least one month was to be given in advance for inviting objections before finalising the fresh seniority list of masters/mistresses for promotion in respect of different streams. After the fresh seniority list was framed, the promotions, which have been made to the post of lecturers in May 2008, May 2012 and July 2016, would be reviewed. If any candidate is found beyond the seniority and quota, he or she shall be reverted and candidates, who are found entitled for any promotion shall be accorded such promotion as lecturer, reads the High Court orders.