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Time of India
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Protest aginst Govt's Rationalisation Policy: CG teachers issue 2-day ultimatum to state govt
Raipur: Teachers across Chhattisgarh issued a two-day ultimatum to the state govt, threatening a division-wise sit-in protest starting May 31. This followed a massive protest in Raipur on Wednesday, where 23 teacher organisations, united under the 'Sarv Shikshak Sajha Manch' banner, attempted to gherao the Mantralaya. Teachers are protesting the govt's school rationalisation policy, which they claim will impact around 40,000 teachers and nearly 30,000 schools, alleging the move is misleading the public and will severely worsen the quality of education in govt schools. "Our talk with the Education Secretary failed, and thus we decided to continue our strike to save around 4,000 teachers' posts in govt primary, upper primary, and higher secondary schools across the state," said Virendra Dubey, State President of Shaley Shikshak Sangh. He clarified that while they have no objection to the principle of rationalisation, the state govt is allegedly conspiring to eliminate around 40,000 teaching posts by "freezing" the 2008 setup. Dharmesh Sharma, General Secretary of the Sangh, affirmed their acceptance of the RTE Act 2009 but insisted that the 2008 setup plan should remain. He claimed that through this rationalisation policy, the state govt plans to eliminate one post each in primary and middle schools, and one commerce lecturer post in higher secondary schools. Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Free P2,000 GCash eGift UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo According to Sharma, around 9,000 teachers from 13,000 upper primary schools and approximately 20,000 teachers from 30,000 primary schools will be affected. Similarly, 3,500 commerce lecturers in higher secondary schools, where there are typically two commerce lecturers per school, will be impacted by the proposed reduction to one. Sharma pointed out that Chhattisgarh's Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) is better than the national average, which is an achievement. However, he stressed that this does not justify abolishing teaching positions. Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Education Department Secretary Siddharth Komal Singh Pardeshi clarified that there will be no tampering with the existing setup. He stated this during a recent media interaction amidst the ongoing protests. A report by the Chhattisgarh Education Department recently revealed that 211 govt schools across the state have zero student enrolment despite having teachers deployed. This finding came to light amidst a wider rationalisation effort by the department. For instance, in Sajabhavna and Harratikra Government Primary Schools in Batau development block of Surguja district, teachers are present despite the absence of students. The Education Department stated that these schools are no longer relevant, and the process of transferring these teachers to schools with actual need has begun. Conversely, remote and inaccessible areas of the state face a severe shortage of teachers, directly impacting students' academic performance. In the Government Higher Secondary School, Kunwarpur, in Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district, the absence of subject-specific teachers led to a higher secondary examination result of only 40.68% in 2024-25, significantly lower than the state's average. During his visit to Kunwarpur, CM Vishnu Deo Sai heard villagers' pleas for teacher appointments. Residents reported that teachers for crucial subjects like science, mathematics, and English were unavailable for years, hindering quality education. In response to these conditions, the Education Department is re-deploying teachers from schools with no students to those where they are genuinely needed through its rationalisation process. Departmental sources indicate that the teacher rationalisation process will be completed soon to improve the education system. Education experts believe this step was long overdue. They note that while some schools struggle without teachers, others had teachers who were underutilised due to a lack of students. They added that if the rationalisation is implemented transparently, it could significantly strengthen the education system.
Time of India
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Chhattisgarh teachers give 2-day ultimatum to state govt over school rationalisation
RAIPUR: Teachers across Chhattisgarh have issued a two-day ultimatum to the state government, threatening a division-wise sit-in protest starting May 31. This comes after a massive protest in Raipur on Wednesday, where 23 teacher organisations, united under the 'Sarv Shikshak Sajha Manch' banner, attempted to gherao the Mantralaya. Teachers are protesting the government's school rationalisation policy, which they claim will impact around 40,000 teachers and nearly 30,000 schools, alleging the move is misleading the public and will severely worsen the quality of education in government schools. "Our talk with the Education Secretary failed, and thus we have decided to continue our strike to save around 4,000 teachers' posts in government primary, upper primary, and higher secondary schools across the state," said Virendra Dubey, State President of Shaley Shikshak Sangh. He clarified that while they have no objection to the principle of rationalisation, the state government is allegedly conspiring to eliminate around 40,000 teaching posts by "freezing" the 2008 setup. Dharmesh Sharma, General Secretary of the Sangh, affirmed their acceptance of the RTE Act 2009 but insisted that the 2008 setup plan should remain. He claimed that through this rationalisation policy, the state government plans to eliminate one post each in primary and middle schools, and one commerce lecturer post in higher secondary schools. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Τι είναι το ChatGPT για το οποίο μιλάνε όλοι; courses AI Undo According to Mr. Sharma, around 9,000 teachers from 13,000 upper primary schools and approximately 20,000 teachers from 30,000 primary schools will be affected. Similarly, 3,500 commerce lecturers in higher secondary schools, where there are typically two commerce lecturers per school, will be impacted by the proposed reduction to one. Sharma pointed out that Chhattisgarh's Pupil Teacher Ratio (PTR) is better than the national average, which is an achievement. However, he stressed that this does not justify abolishing teaching positions. Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Education Department Secretary Siddharth Komal Singh Pardeshi has clarified that there will be no tampering with the existing setup. He stated this during a recent media interaction amidst the ongoing protests. A report by the Chhattisgarh Education Department recently revealed that 211 government schools across the state have zero student enrollment despite having teachers deployed. This finding has come to light amidst a wider rationalisation effort by the department. For instance, in Sajabhavna and Harratikra Government Primary Schools in Batau development block of Surguja district, teachers are present despite the absence of students. The Education Department stated that these schools are no longer relevant, and the process of transferring these teachers to schools with actual need has begun. Conversely, remote and inaccessible areas of the state face a severe shortage of teachers, directly impacting students' academic performance. In the Government Higher Secondary School, Kunwarpur, in Manendragarh-Chirmiri-Bharatpur district, the absence of subject-specific teachers led to a higher secondary examination result of only 40.68% in 2024-25, significantly lower than the state's average. During his visit to Kunwarpur, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai heard villagers' pleas for teacher appointments. Residents reported that teachers for crucial subjects like science, mathematics, and English have been unavailable for years, hindering quality education. In response to these conditions, the Education Department is re-deploying teachers from schools with no students to those where they are genuinely needed through its rationalisation process. Departmental sources indicate that the teacher rationalisation process will be completed soon to improve the education system. Education experts believe this step was long overdue. They note that while some schools struggle without teachers, others had teachers who were underutilised due to a lack of students. They added that if the rationalisation is implemented transparently, it could significantly strengthen the education system.
Time of India
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Rationalisation row: Teachers' body flags issues with CG's school edu dept
Raipur: The Shaley Shikshak Sangh Chhattisgarh has urged chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai to address critical issues within the school education department, particularly concerning the ongoing rationalisation process. This comes amidst strong protests and preparations for a 'Mantralaya gherao' by various teachers' organisations on May 28. A total of 23 teachers' organisations are expected to participate in the proposed gherao. Teachers' Objections Virendra Dubey, state president of the Sangh, clarified that no teachers' body opposes the initiative to staff teacher-less or single-teacher schools. Their objection, he said, is focused on specific criteria and discrepancies in the rationalisation plan that adversely affect educational quality and accessibility in the state. Dubey said their main objection is to the move to reduce one teacher each from primary and upper primary schools compared to the 2008 departmental setup. He added that the School Education Department is now deeming its own existing setup irrelevant and is trying to use the RTE Act 2009 as a shield. The RTE Act, in force for 15 years, sets minimum standards for the country, not the maximum, he added. This means implementing minimum standards is mandatory, but there is no restriction on providing more teachers and resources. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning For Working Professionals. BITS Pilani WILP Apply Now Undo Dubey pointed out that the act includes a provision for subject-wise teachers, but Chhattisgarh scrapped the system of subject-wise teachers in 2023. This indicates the department wants to use the RTE Act 2009 as a shield to justify its unilateral, inconsistent, and anti-education, anti-teacher, and anti-student rationalisation process, he said. The Sangh questioned how rationalisation, which proposes a minimum of 01+01 teachers in primary schools and 01+03 in upper primary schools instead of the earlier 01+02 and 01+04, will improve education quality in Chhattisgarh. The state ranks between 25th to 30th nationally in educational standards and achievements despite having more teachers than RTE norms, the Sangh said. The organisation asked the department what happens in primary schools operating under a 01+01 setup if one of the two assistant teachers is a cluster coordinator, or is on leave, transferred, promoted, or assigned to other duties. The Sangh warned that in such cases, the school will be in a single-teacher or teacher-less situation, affecting education quality and child safety. 'Why Is Administrative Setup Not Held Accountable?' Dubey also pointed out that the administrative setup of the School Education Department worsened, even more than the academic system. He highlighted the appointment of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers as departmental heads, whose short and undefined tenures often result in frequent changes every one to two yearsin reality. Many posts of additional director, joint director, and deputy director remain vacant in the directorate. Appointments to these positions are frequently on an interim basis, with officials often holding charge for years. Most divisions and districts function with in-charge officials instead of permanent, competent officers. Around 80 per cent of high schools and higher secondary schools across the state are managed by in-charge principals, he said. He termed it unfortunate that the department appears to perpetuate this ad-hoc and in-charge system, evidenced by the absence of promotions in these roles for the past six to eight years. Dubey questioned why rationalisation is applied solely to the academic cadre within the School Education Department, while there seems to be no effort to rationalise the administrative cadre, who are responsible for the department's disorganisation. Dharmesh Sharma, sangh general secretary, noted that teachers undergo annual assessment based on various parameters. However, the administrative cadre, whose policies and directives teachers implement, are never assessed. This, he suggested, leads to teachers being held accountable for policy and administrative failures. The rationalisation policy had sparked significant opposition from the Congress party, which contends that the policy could lead to closure of schools, particularly affecting tribal regions like Bastar and Surguja. Congress president Deepak Baij also accused the govt of favoring private institutions. What The Dept Says The education department said that the rationalisation process adheres to the Right to Education Act and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, aiming for a fair distribution of teachers across schools. They clarified that surplus teachers will be reallocated, not dismissed, and current posts will be retained for future needs.
