UT has no panel to hear plaints of teachers
The Union Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2015, after amending the Right to Education Act (2009), had made it mandatory to form a state-level committee under director (schools) to take up appeals of teachers working in government schools
The ‘teacher redressal mechanism’ in UT remains on paper.
However, the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2015, after amending the Right to Education Act (2009), had made it mandatory to form a state-level committee under director (schools) to take up appeals of teachers working in government schools.
When asked about the existence of the committee, the nodal officer of RTE Act and district education officer (DEO), Alka Mehta, said she was unaware of any such committee. She informed that she had not been a part of any such meeting so far.
Deputy director, adult education 1, Anujit Kaur, who was former DEO, also confirmed that she had never attended any such committee meet. Education Secretary, Arun Kumar Gupta, also unaware of any such committee, suggested to check with the director school education (DSE) Rubinderjit Singh Brar.
However when contacted, Brar was not available for comments. The notification released by the MHRD, department of school education and literacy read, “A committee shall be constituted under the chairmanship of director (elementary education) consisting two members as may be nominated by secretary, education of the appropriate government. The state-level Grievance Redressal Committee shall meet as per the requirement, but at least once in every six months.”
The notification is part of the amended rules of RTE released on September 28, 2015, under Section 38 of the Act.
A teachers’ union leader, requesting anonymity, said, “The motive behind the teacher redressal mechanism is to provide teachers an opportunity to voice their problems. There are so many problems that burden us such as unequal time-tables, delays in salary, and other day-to-day problems of working in schools and non-academic work. If we have a platform to raise our concerns, it would our productivity.”As per the amended rules, the grievance redressal mechanism for teachers will also have a school-level grievance redressal committee.
The notification read, “The school management committee (SMC) shall be the first-level of grievance redressal at the school-level. Any teacher of a school established, owned or controlled by the appropriate government may submit his or her grievance in writing to the convener or member secretary of the SMC.”
A UT government school principal, requesting anonymity, said, “In certain schools, the complaints of teachers are taken up by SMC in an appropriate manner, however, not all schools are following it. Further, it exists at the school-level only, we are not aware of any such committee constituted at a senior-level.”
MHRD GUIDELINES
1. No service matters, orders of suspension from service and penalties under disciplinary proceedings initiated by the education department or the school management.
2. Complaints relating to harassment of women teachers shall be accorded priority and shall be redressed without delay in compliance with the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court on prevention of sexual harassments at the work place.