GURUGRAM: The state government’s teachers’ rationalisation policy has led to protests and stiff opposition from across the state. While teachers are upset over the transfers to other districts and the merger of the schools, students and parents are disgruntled over the drive leaving them with fewer or no teachers at all.
The state government on Sunday finalised its online transfer drive of the teachers — part of the school rationalisation process — and claimed that 40% of over 28,000 teachers have been allotted schools as per their preference. The department has claimed that the transfer drive was done to rectify the disparities in the student-teacher ratio in government schools across 22 districts.
Although the government maintains that the rationalisation drive is meant to address the issue of shortage of teachers, several schools in various districts have either been left with fewer teachers or no teachers at all. At Hirapur Middle School in Faridabad, students on Tuesday protested as the transfer drive deprived them of the lone teacher they had. Similar protests were reported from Punhera Khurd village in Faridabad, where students have demanded that transferred teachers are reinstated and additional teachers are allotted.
“Our school had only one teacher and 54 students. After the transfer, we are left with no teacher. Our education is getting hampered and we fear school might be shut down,” said Pooja, a Class 7 student of Hirapur Government Middle School, Faridabad.
Similar protests have been registered in several villages across the state — Faridabad, Rewari, Hisar, Nuh — have alleged irregularities in the transfer drive.
“The transfer drive has actually worsened the student-teacher ratio instead of addressing it. Several schools are left with no teachers or school heads at all. These schools will likely be shut down under the pretext of the merger. Many more protests will emerge in the coming days as villagers across the state have taken up the issues with their respective panchayats,” said Bhim Singh, Faridabad district president of Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh.
Stakeholders have also raised objections to the government’s plan to merge schools and alleged that the process will reduce the number of government schools from over 14,000 to less than 10,000.A section of teachers who have been participating in the sit-in protests for nearly a week now has proposed a state-wide meeting to launch a united protest to force the government to roll back its rationalisation policy.
“The state has a total shortage of over 15,000 teachers and without any new recruitment, how is even rationalisation possible? The government is going to close down the schools under the name of mergers and artificially curb the demand for additional teachers. Instead of recruiting, it has resorted to such tactics to shield themselves from constant pressure from the opposition regarding the shortage of teachers,” alleged Haryana School Lecturers’ Association (HSLA) general secretary Sushil Katariya.
The education department officials, defended their policy and claimed that the protests were misguided. “Merger of schools doesn’t mean closing down. The government feels that if there are three schools within one to three kilometers, they can be clubbed into one. This will club the posts of school heads and we’ll have additional staff be deployed to improve the student-teacher ratio,” a senior secondary education department official explained.
The state government on Sunday finalised its online transfer drive of the teachers — part of the school rationalisation process — and claimed that 40% of over 28,000 teachers have been allotted schools as per their preference. The department has claimed that the transfer drive was done to rectify the disparities in the student-teacher ratio in government schools across 22 districts.
Although the government maintains that the rationalisation drive is meant to address the issue of shortage of teachers, several schools in various districts have either been left with fewer teachers or no teachers at all. At Hirapur Middle School in Faridabad, students on Tuesday protested as the transfer drive deprived them of the lone teacher they had. Similar protests were reported from Punhera Khurd village in Faridabad, where students have demanded that transferred teachers are reinstated and additional teachers are allotted.
“Our school had only one teacher and 54 students. After the transfer, we are left with no teacher. Our education is getting hampered and we fear school might be shut down,” said Pooja, a Class 7 student of Hirapur Government Middle School, Faridabad.
Similar protests have been registered in several villages across the state — Faridabad, Rewari, Hisar, Nuh — have alleged irregularities in the transfer drive.
“The transfer drive has actually worsened the student-teacher ratio instead of addressing it. Several schools are left with no teachers or school heads at all. These schools will likely be shut down under the pretext of the merger. Many more protests will emerge in the coming days as villagers across the state have taken up the issues with their respective panchayats,” said Bhim Singh, Faridabad district president of Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh.
Stakeholders have also raised objections to the government’s plan to merge schools and alleged that the process will reduce the number of government schools from over 14,000 to less than 10,000.A section of teachers who have been participating in the sit-in protests for nearly a week now has proposed a state-wide meeting to launch a united protest to force the government to roll back its rationalisation policy.
“The state has a total shortage of over 15,000 teachers and without any new recruitment, how is even rationalisation possible? The government is going to close down the schools under the name of mergers and artificially curb the demand for additional teachers. Instead of recruiting, it has resorted to such tactics to shield themselves from constant pressure from the opposition regarding the shortage of teachers,” alleged Haryana School Lecturers’ Association (HSLA) general secretary Sushil Katariya.
The education department officials, defended their policy and claimed that the protests were misguided. “Merger of schools doesn’t mean closing down. The government feels that if there are three schools within one to three kilometers, they can be clubbed into one. This will club the posts of school heads and we’ll have additional staff be deployed to improve the student-teacher ratio,” a senior secondary education department official explained.