Govt teachers aggrieved over new rule for pay hike
NEW DELHI: Teachers of government schools i n Delhi are aggrieved over a new criterion being implemented by the education department for their annual evaluations under guidelines of the 7th Pay Commission which makes it compulsory for them to have the “very good” remark for their performance in the last five years to get hikes and promotions.
The teachers said the criterion cannot be applied for the last five years as the 7th Pay Commission was implemented only two years back, in 2016. “Earlier, we used to get hikes and promotions on “good” remark but the benchmark was raised to “very good” when the 7th Pay Commission guidelines were implemented. It should ideally be applicable from then only. But, as per the Directorate of Education (DOE), we need the “very good” remark for our performances from 2011 to 2016. How is it justified,” Ajay Veer Singh, general secretary, government teachers’ association, said.
The promotions of Delhi government teachers under the government’s modified assured career progression (MACP) scheme are pending since 2016. Under the MACP, the teachers only get monetary promotions. Their designations do not change.
Sanjay Goel, director at the DOE, however, said that they have sent a communication to the department of personnel and training, a central government agency, to clarify whether the “very good” benchmark is to be applied from 2016 or before that. “We followed the 7th Pay Commission guidelines as issued by the services department. But, it is a matter of concern that the guidelines do not clarify whether the “very good” benchmark is applicable from 2016 or before that. We asked them to clarify it ,” he said.
Earlier this month, the teachers’ association had written to Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia requesting him to amend their mode of evaluation. They had alleged their present mode of evaluation was “biased”. “The performance of teachers depends on many factors, including student results, inputs by parents and the principals or head of schools (HOS). These factors are highly biased and speculative. We demanded the assessment should be made through a grading method based on performance and not by the remarks by the principals or HOS,” he said.
The teachers allege they are being “harassed” by their respective principals/hos in the name of evaluations. “We used to put so much effort to please our principals/hos to get at least a ‘good’ remark. How do we expect to get a “very good” remark from them without being exploited,” a teacher at a government boys’ school in west Delhi said.