After govt school principals become DEOs, lecturers demand promotion

The lecturers’ body highlighted that out of the 1,930 posts of principals, more than 600 are currently lying vacant due to mass retirements

Following the promotion of 51 government school principals to the position of district education officer (DEO) across Punjab, the lecturers are now advocating for their long-pending promotion requests, which is unresolved since 2022.

Several lecturers, serving in the same position for nearly 30 years, expressed frustration over the lack of promotions. (HT Photo)

The lecturers’ body highlighted that out of the 1,930 posts of principals, more than 600 are currently lying vacant due to mass retirements. Several lecturers, serving in the same position for nearly 30 years, expressed frustration over the lack of promotions throughout their extensive teaching careers.

Sanjeev Kumar, the president of the Common School Lecturer Union Punjab, said, “Many lecturers who have dedicated three decades to the job and are on the verge of retirement have not received even a single promotion. I am one of them. As a lecturer since 1999, major promotions were stalled from 2001 to 2010 due to ongoing litigations. The government introduced direct recruitment of principals in 2012, reducing our promotion quota to 75 percent. In 2018, it was further reduced to 50 percent, with the remaining 50 percent allocated for direct recruitment through PSC. Litigations in court led to the halt of direct recruitment in 2020. Since then, only one promotion was granted in November 2022 to 189 lecturers, headmasters, and vocational teachers, while this should be a regular annual practice.”

Taking a jibe at the government’s flagship programme of Schools of Eminence, Kumar said, “Schools require a proper hierarchy to function. Mere upliftment of infrastructure will not address the quality of education in Punjab. It takes proper manpower to cater to the needs of students and schools completely.”

The lecturer union emphasises the urgent need for the departmental promotion committee to endorse the overdue promotions of lecturers, ensuring that vacant principal positions across the state are promptly filled. They are seeking these promotions before the Lok Sabha elections of 2024.

“It has been thirty years since I am teaching to class 11 and 12 only. Be it any profession, all seek growth in terms of designation. Not only is it essential for employees, but it is also in the larger interest of the education department if the experienced lot is given responsibility for the further upliftment of education in the state,” said lecturer Maninder Kaur, who has been teaching since 1994.

Responding to the matter, an official spokesperson from the education department in Ludhiana said, “The decision of promotions is taken at the ministerial or secretariat level, and we have little to no say in it. We also want our employees to flourish professionally so that they can give their best to the job.”