Ludhiana: ‘Anomalies’ in teacher’s probationary file lead to departmental probe

District education officer (elementary), Ravinder Kaur, confirmed that accepting a probation file without the verification of the head of the parent school goes against protocol

A complaint over the improper handling of a probation file has triggered an official inquiry in the district education department, after the officiating head teacher of Government Primary School (GPS), Giaspura, raised serious objections against the block primary education officer (BPEO), Ludhiana-1.

The officiating head teacher revealed that he had also written to the BPEO alerting them about the missing verifications and the file still being processed and accepted. (HT Photo)

In a formal letter submitted to the district education officer (elementary), Sukhdhir Sekhon, the officiating head teacher alleged that the probation file of a deputed teacher, Neha, currently posted at Government Primary School, Dhandari Kalan, was accepted by the BPEO without mandatory verification from the head of the parent institution- a violation of standard administrative protocol.

Sekhon stated that Neha’s deputation file was not only incomplete but also lacked any verification from his end. “None of the documents in the file were verified by me. Surprisingly, the centre head teacher’s signature was taken even before Neha’s deputation period was officially over,” he noted in his complaint. Sekhon further revealed that he had also written to the BPEO alerting them about the missing verifications and the file still being processed and accepted.

In a related letter addressed to the BPEO, the centre head teacher clarified that a few deputed teachers had approached deputy DEO (elementary), Manoj Kumar, requesting that their probation files be signed in advance. Reportedly, on his instructions, signatures were given before the completion of the deputation term. She stated that Neha’s file was later sent to head teacher Sekhon for verification, but before he could sign it, the file was submitted to the BPEO, breaching standard procedure. In her letter, she urged the BPEO not to act on the file until it received the proper verification from the school head.

District education officer (elementary), Ravinder Kaur, confirmed that accepting a probation file without the verification of the head of the parent school goes against protocol. “This is a procedural lapse. An enquiry will be initiated on Tuesday to investigate the matter thoroughly,” she said.