Aided-school teachers allege foul play in appointment of PG teachers

The Hindu

2 days ago

Teachers of a government-aided school in Madurai district, through a petition to Collector and Chief Educational Officer, have expressed their grievances about new regulations and a suspected foul play by school administration in appointing teachers.
A schoolteacher from the PKN Boys Higher Secondary School in Tirumangalam, requesting anonymity, alleged that the teachers were coerced by the school administration into giving a letter stating that they did not want promotions.
'In government-aided schools like ours, teachers who meet the required educational qualifications for vacant posts left by retiring teachers in the school will be promoted,' the teacher added.
Currently, the school has vacant postgraduate teacher positions in English, Chemistry and Physics and in the ongoing academic year, a PG Tamil teacher was also retiring, they added.
But, instead of promoting the two most senior and qualified teachers among them, the school's secretary had pressurised them to write a letter rejecting the promotion, they alleged.
They noted that for the vacant positions, as they would not need to require Teachers Recruitment Board examinations for appointments, the school administration was directly recruiting through their own procedure, they stated.
Alleging cash-for-job for appointment of PG teachers, the teachers said that they suspected a foul play in appointment. By stopping elevation of the existing teachers, the school administration thought they could take people from outside on their own will.
Apart from this, a teacher said that in the recent two years, following the appointment of a new secretary, new rules and regulations were being implemented to curb the teachers' freedom.
For instance, installation of CCTV cameras in classrooms and monitoring teachers' each and every move mentally restricted them from discharging their duties, the teacher added.
Even a bit of deviation from what the school administration expected could attract disciplinary action against them, the teacher noted.
Not only the teachers, but also the school administration, by keenly noticing the students' activities, imposed strict punishments.
'The school administration by informing parents for even minor mistakes mentally demotivated the students. The school strength which was over 2,300 has now come down to 1,700,' the teacher alleged.
Lacking even basic gender sensitivity, the school administration directed all the women teachers to wear coats over their saris when on school campus.
This could not be justified as teachers were well aware of what to wear and how to maintain a decorum, the teachers observed. By pressurising the teachers to wear over coats, the school administration had been taking an authoritarian position, they added.
This would not only demotivate the teachers, but would also affect their mental health and the eventual loss would be to the students, they said.
The school administration replying to the grievances raised by the teachers said it was due to the regulations imposed by the school to discipline them.
The CCTV installation in classes and direction to wear coats were for their own welfare, said the administration.
'As it is a boys' school, we wanted the women teachers to maintain a dress code,' they added.
With regard to coercion of staff to refuse promotion, they said that the teachers were only instructed about the offers and procedure, and the decision was up to theirs.