Government schools set to get principals after long wait as Haryana promotes 221 teachers

The Haryana government is all set to fill long-pending vacancies of principals in various government schools across the state. After months, and in many cases years of waiting, 221 teachers, including 218 Post Graduate Teachers (PGTs) and three headmasters have been promoted to the post of principal, offering long-awaited relief to hundreds of government schools running without a regular head.

The Department of Secondary Education issued promotion orders on November 26, giving hope to schools across the state that have been functioning without heads or senior lecturers managing dual responsibilities.

Among these promoted teachers, Rohtak leads with 26 promoted teachers, followed by Hisar with 19, Bhiwani (17), Gurugram (16), Sonepat and Sirsa with 12 each, Karnal and Jind with 11 each, Charkhi Dadri (10), Panipat, Kaithal and Fatehabad with 9 each, Jhajjar, Palwal and Panchkula with 8 each, Mahendergarh, Kurukshetra and Yamunanagar with 7 each, Faridabad with 5, Ambala and Rewari with 4 each, and finally Nuh and Chandigarh with one each.

Meanwhile, the department has also sought preferences from the promoted teachers to fill the option from 349 schools, which are running without regular principals, said a senior official of the department.

Among these schools, the highest number of government schools without principals is in Jhajjar, with 40 such schools, followed by Rewari with 32, and Sonepat 29, Faridabad (25), Bhiwani (24), Panipat (20), Jind and Mahendragarh (19 each), Rohtak (18), Gurugram (17), Kaithal (15), Palwal (14) Sirsa (13), Kurukshetra and Charkhi Dadri (12 each), Karnal (11), Hisar (10), Ambala and Yamunanagar (9 each). Panchkula has just one school without a Principal, said the data.

“Promoted teachers had to submit their preferences till 5pm on December 1. Candidates must verify their personal details, enter either their employee ID, and authenticate their login,” he added.

The promoted teachers had to submit their choices of temporary stations through MIS portal. A permanent posting will later be granted through the general teacher transfer drive as per the Teacher Transfer Policy.

Teachers have welcomed the move, calling it a major step towards strengthening school administration and improving academic outcomes. “The promotion of PGTs as principals will help in strengthening the education system across the state as several schools, which have been running without regular heads, will get regular principals soon,” said Umeet Singh, district treasurer of Punjabi Adhyapak and Bhasha Parchar Parsar Society Haryana.

“The absence of regular principals has been impacting administrative and teaching efficiency in many schools across the state. Work such as financial approvals, infrastructure planning, academic supervision, coordination with higher authorities have been handled by in-charge officials stretched thin by their own teaching duties. The new joining of the principals will make these teachers burden free, and they can only focus on teaching,” said Satpal Sindhu, state president Haryana School Lecturer Association.