Amritsar/Chandigarh, November 23
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal termed the plight of government schools and teachers in Punjab as a misfortune. Kejriwal has given 8 guarantees to teachers for comprehensive education reforms in Punjab and promised that these 8 guarantees would be implemented on priority basis as soon as the Aam Aadmi Party government is formed in 2022. Arvind Kejriwal also called upon all teachers to join the AAP’s campaign to transform Punjab’s government school education system like Delhi.
The eight guarantees include creating a Delhi-like environment in the education sector in Punjab, regularizing outsourcing and contractual teachers, implementing a transparent transfer policy, banning non-teaching work from teachers, permanent recruitment on vacant posts, sending teachers abroad for training, bringing in a transparent policy for new promotions and providing cashless medical facilities for teachers and their family members. Arvind Kejriwal along with AAP Punjab president and MP Bhagwant Mann were interacting with the media of ‘Guru ki Nagri’ on Tuesday. Party’s Punjab Affairs in-charge Jarnail Singh and co-in-charge Raghav Chadha were also present on the occasion.
Recognizing the importance of education and teachers for the development and upliftment of the society, Arvind Kejriwal gave the first guarantee to create a ‘good environment for education’ in Punjab. He said that just as a good atmosphere of education has been created in Delhi, a similar atmosphere would be created in Punjab under which a high standard of education would be provided.
Through the second guarantee, Kejriwal promised to secure all types of raw, outsourced and contract teachers. He said that most of the teachers in Punjab have been working for only Rs 10,000 per month for the last 18 years; which is a joke and unjust with a teacher. Appealing to the Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Arvind Kejriwal said that the two demands of the teachers protesting on the tanks; to fill the vacancies and make the raw teachers permanent, should be immediately accepted. “If the Channi government does not do so, then during my next visit to Punjab, I will go to the teachers’ dharna and the demands of the teachers will be met on the formation of the AAP government,” he said.
To save the teachers of Punjab from the hassle of transfers, Arvind Kejriwal gave a third guarantee to the teachers to change the ‘Teacher Transfer’ policy. He said that Punjab was forcing a teacher to teach in two schools located at a distance of 200 km. The policy of transfer of teachers in Punjab will be changed on the lines of Delhi. With full transparency, the policy of teachers based on their own choice and posting near home will be implemented.
Through the fourth guarantee, Arvind Kejriwal said that non-teaching work would not be done by the teachers. He said that just as teachers in Delhi are not required to do BLO, census and clerical work; similarly in Punjab no other non-teaching work including such work would be done.
Through the fifth guarantee, he announced to fill all the vacant posts of the teachers. Kejriwal said that education reforms in Delhi were not done by Arvind Kejriwal or Manish Sisodia alone; they were done in collaboration with the teachers. The Delhi government has provided a conducive environment to teachers and provided world class training.
The sixth guarantee is that like the Delhi teachers are sent abroad for training; similarly teachers from Punjab would also be sent. Kejriwal said that the teachers of Delhi have been trained in modern teaching methods in Finland, Canada, USA and England, along with the management institutes of the country and similar training would be imparted to the teachers of Punjab.
Seventh, Kejriwal gave the guarantee of timely promotion to teachers. While the eighth guarantee was announced to provide a cashless medical facility to every teacher and his family. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the teachers to join the party to create a conducive environment for education in the state, change the system and create a new Punjab. He said that the future of more than 24 lakh children studying in government schools in Punjab was in the dark due to the incompetence of previous governments as there was no such thing as education in Punjab. By painting the gates of government schools, they are being branded as smart schools; which is messing with the future of the children.
Earlier, Bhagwant Mann said that the basic foundation of society’s progress is school education but the ruling party in Punjab has sunk the fleet of school education. He said that Delhi’s education model has earned a worldwide reputation while Punjab’s schools are being locked up.
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