Teachers’ body flags ‘50% vacant principal posts’ in Ludhiana as Sikhya Kranti programme begins today

Under the programme, the government is set to organise activities across government schools, including the inauguration of infrastructure development works

Ahead of the state government’s ‘Sikhya Kranti’ programme in government schools from October 27 to November 3, the Democratic Teachers’ Front (DTF), Punjab, has flagged a 50.28% vacancy in principal posts in Ludhiana, where 91 of the 181 sanctioned posts are lying vacant, questioning the government’s claims of an education revolution.

According to the data collected by DTF, 91 of the 181 sanctioned posts of principals are lying vacant in Ludhiana, which accounts to 50.28% (HT FILE)

Under the programme, the government is set to organise activities across government schools, including the inauguration of infrastructure development works. However, the teachers’ body maintained that the government’s claims of transforming school education stood in contrast to the thousands of vacant posts across the state. State president of DTF Digvijaypal Sharma and secretary Harjit Singh Sudhar said that 1,153 of the 1,927 sanctioned principal posts in secondary schools across Punjab were vacant, accounting for nearly 60% of the total.

According to the data collected by DTF, 91 of the 181 sanctioned posts of principals are lying vacant in Ludhiana, which accounts to 50.28%

The union’s state secretary Resham Singh said the shortage was particularly severe in Mansa and Nawanshahr, where around 80% of schools were functioning without principals. He claimed that more than 75% of schools in Moga, Barnala and Tarn Taran were also without principals.

The union leaders further claimed that nearly 35,000 posts across various education cadres, including headmasters, block primary education officers (BPEOs), teachers, ETT teachers and pre-primary teachers, were lying vacant across Punjab.

District senior vice-president of DTF Davinder Singh Sidhu, vice-president Gurdeep Singh Heran, organisational secretary Gurpreet Khanna, finance secretary Gurbachan Khanna and press secretary Hoshiar Singh said the union had repeatedly approached the director of school education’s office, seeking immediate promotions to improve school administration. However, despite repeated representations, the government had failed to address the issue, they alleged. The union also raised concerns over teachers being assigned non-academic duties, including census-related work and the Special Intensive Revision. Such assignments were affecting the functioning of schools and diverting teachers from their academic responsibilities, the leaders said.

Demanding immediate promotions and fresh recruitment across all education cadres, the DTF urged the government to fill vacant principal posts and address the wider staff shortage without further delay.

The union reiterated that it would intensify its agitation if the government failed to take prompt action.

HT could not elicit a response from the state as Monday was a government holiday.