Faridkot, January 24: Government schoolteachers are confused about their holiday entitlement after the state government reduced the gazetted holidays from 37 to 20 for calendar year 2018.
Besides 20 holidays, each employee has been permitted to avail any five holidays from the list of 34 restricted holidays. These restricted holidays have been increased from two in 2007 to five in 2008.
This increase in restricted holidays has led to confusion among the teachers. So far, all government employees were availing two restricted holidays a year and the schools availed two local holidays in lieu of these restricted holidays.
Now when the restricted holidays have been increased to five, the Education Department has not announced any increase in the local holidays vis-à-vis restricted holidays.
In the absence of any formal announcement by the department about the restricted and local holidays, the district education officers (DEOs) at various places are interpreting things differently.
While the teachers are demanding three restricted holidays and two local holidays to compensate the loss of reduction in the gazetted holidays on the pattern of all government employees in the state, the DEOs in some districts have directed the school heads to adjust any restricted holiday availed by a teacher against his/her casual or earned leave.
Inderjit Singh, Director, Public Instruction (elementary), said to end this confusion between restricted and local holidays, the department would write to the higher authorities and the personnel department.
News Source: http://www.tribuneindia.com
