PR NADKARNI
The students of Government Higher Secondary Schools at Pernem, Sanguem, Valpoi and thereafter at Panaji as well as Margao started agitations against the removal of their contract/lecture basis teachers teaching them all these years as the government has posted recently promoted high school teachers as higher secondary teachers designated as Teachers Grade-I in all the above Higher Secondary Schools.
In a way students are right because their existing teachers have taught them during last academic year in Std XI and during this academic year since June and now almost three months are over. The students as well as teachers have to adjust with each other. The teachers should know the students, their abilities, weaknesses, grasping abilities, strength, etc and students too need to know the styles and ways of teaching the subjects by the teachers which help the teaching-learning processes to be very smooth and effective.
This is what happens when a system is not in place. The teachers teaching in high schools have been given promotions at the fag end of their teaching career and some of them are due for retirement within few months and some in few years. These promotions may not give them any financial benefits except for one increment or so while fixing them in higher scale. Some of them in case they have completed 12 or 24 years of service, they may be still in higher scale than the scale prescribed for higher secondary teachers.
Had they be given promotions a few years back, probably they would have got one more promotion to become high school headmasters. Few headmasters would have become deputy education officers or higher secondary principals. A few higher secondary principals would have become Assistant Director of Education and subsequently few would have become Deputy Director of Education. Thus the government has deprived promotions to several persons and so also caused heavy financial losses by delaying and depriving teachers of timely promotions.
Secondly there has been a big void in the administration of the Directorate of Education at the higher level since several posts right from Headmasters of high schools to the posts of Dy Director of Education wherein again there is ad-hocism at every level which indirectly affects the efficiency in the administration as well as creating discontent among the officers at every level.
Appointments on contract basis and lecture basis as well as those including in Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan help the politicians to appoint candidates of their choice but which may not happen some times depending upon requirements and competencies. If at all such appointments are required, it should be from the waitlisted candidates as done in several states. The government should start the process of promotions and recruitments well in advance so that there is no delay in posting them as per the requirements.
To avoid such a situation, the government should start the recruitment process every year well in advance and at least two years in advance depending upon the number of teachers or officers due for retirement. The wait list could be kept ready and before posting on regular basis at least teachers could be posted in short term leave vacancies like maternity leave, child care leave, terminal illness leave, etc immediately to avoid academic loss of the students. This is also done in several states in India.
The government follows short cut methods at every level and thereby creates several problems in the functioning as well as efficiency in the administration which ultimately reflects on the government.
(The writer is former Chairman, Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education)
