Teachers to now be shuffled across schools, no question of ‘category’

Mandatory for principals to take classes; a surplus pool to be created too

CHANDIGARH:TO overcome shortage of teachers in senior secondary schools, the Punjab cabinet on Wednesday approved a rationalisation policy. The policy, approved under the chairmanship of chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, will also help remove distinction among various categories of schools, and teachers will be posted irrespective of the nature of schools, a spokesperson said.

The post of head teacher will be created in primary schools only if the number of students is more than 60 — a move that will motivate teachers to increase the strength and prevent wastage of available manpower, according to officials. The teacher-student ratio at the state level in various cadres is one teacher for every 27 students in primary schools, 22 for middle schools, 16 in high schools and 29 for senior secondary schools. This is within the norms but there is still shortage of teachers, it is learnt.

The policy makes it mandatory for school principals to take classes too (12 periods per week for principals and 15 periods per week for head teachers).

In case there are surplus teachers in the school, teachers having the longest stay will be shifted out to the common pool and all vacancies will thus be determined and put up on the education department website.

A seniority list of the surplus teachers in a particular subject will be prepared and they will be given the chance to opt for a school according to seniority. Teachers suffering from lifethreatening diseases will would not be shifted out even if they are in the surplus category.

The policy also notes that many teachers prefer to get themselves posted in middle schools since there are no board exams there. As per norms, there are seven sanctioned posts in middle schools with average strength of 22 students, which amounts to high level of under-utilisation of teachers, whereas there is shortage of teachers in the high and senior secondary Schools.

One post and one section will be increased accordingly, in case the number of sections in a school increases, which would help the department save 8,007 posts, having annual financial implication of Rs 576 crore. Apart from this, services of about 1,500 surplus teachers will become available.