Guest teachers to be recruited for max 10 days a month: Minister

Education Minister Rohit Thakur today said that the decision to recruit guest teachers in government schools on an hourly basis was a temporary arrangement.

Rohit, in a statement issued here, said that the state government had introduced this measure only to address the shortage of regular subject teachers, when they proceed on leave. “These teachers will be engaged on the period basis for a maximum of 10 days per month. The initiative aims to ensure that the education of students is not disrupted when a regular teacher goes on leave,” he added.

He said that this arrangement would not impact the recruitment of regular teachers in the Education Department. He added that the government would fill the vacancies of teacher through the direct recruitment process and 15,000 persons, including 3,000 teachers, had already been appointed.

Rohit said that BJP leaders were unnecessarily raising a hue and cry and flaring up the issue of teacher recruitment. “Before making a statement, the BJP should reflect on its own tenure when no teacher was recruited and the quality of education was impacted in the state,” he alleged.

He said that Jai Ram Thakur had during his tenure as Chief Minister focused on announcing new institutions or upgrading the existing ones without allocating an adequate budget or providing staff. “These measures were politically motivated aimed at reaping gains during the Vidhan Sabha elections but the people of the state rejected such hollow initiatives and instead gave a massive mandate to the Congress,” he claimed.

The minister said that owing to the previous government’s mismanagement, education standards had deteriorated to such an extent that the state slipped to the 21st rank nationally. He added that Jai Ram Thakur owed an apology to the people of the state for the flawed policies of his government that had caused significant damage to the education sector.

Baddi SP reports at headquarters

• Baddi SP Ilma Afroz, who was on leave for over a month, has returned to duty and reported to the police headquarters, Shimla
• Ilma was at the police headquarters holding meetings with police officers