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Now, Kasturba Gandhi schools in U.P. to have all-women staff
The move will hit over 1200 male teachers and non-teaching staff across state, some of them have been working for over 15 years
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All 746 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) in Uttar Pradesh will soon have an all-women staff. Contracts of all existing male staff working in these schools functioning in all 75 districts of the state will not be renewed, said state education department officials aware of the move.
Director general, school education, Uttar Pradesh, Vijay Kiran Anand issued a letter dated April 25 in this regard to all district magistrates ordering them to not renew services of teaching as well as non-teaching male staff working in these schools in their respective districts, the officials said.
This step had been taken for the safety of girl students studying in these residential schools offering residential education from classes 6 to 8, they added. The letter, a copy of which is with HT, cites an earlier government order issued by additional chief secretary, basic education, UP, Deepak Kumar on April 20, 2023 and a missive received from the joint secretary, school education and literacy department of Union ministry of education dated October 12, 2022 as the basis for these orders while asking for compliance.
The officials have also been instructed to recruit eligible women on the posts left vacant following the exit of male employees. The move is likely to hit over 1200 male teachers and non-teaching staff of KGBVs functioning across the state. They include 32 men out of the total staff of 209 working in 20 KGBVs of Prayagraj alone. Majority of men in these schools are working as watchmen and accountants.
“Some of us are working right from the start and suddenly find ourselves on the road after devoting 10-11 years to this job,” said an affected male employee unhappy with the decision.
The joint secretary, school education and literacy department of Union ministry of education, in a missive dated October 12, 2022 had made available the new framework for the implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in accordance with the provisions of the new National Education Policy (NEP)-2020.
This framework, a copy of which is with HT, in its section 8.5.2.5 while stressing the importance of safety and security of girls availing free boarding facilities in KGBVs clearly defines that warden/in-charge teacher/resident teacher and all other staff/workers working in or looking after the girls’ hostel should be females only.
“Following the order, now renewal of contracts of men teachers and workers at KGBVs will take place in Prayagraj,” confirmed basic shiksha adhikari (BSA), Prayagraj, Praveen Kumar Tiwari. Officials said that all staff of KGBVs are hired on an annual contractual basis for a particular school and therefore there is no provision of transfers to some other group of schools.
The KGBVs offer free of cost residential schooling facilities (from class 6 till class 8 at present with plans to extend them to class 12) to boost education among girls, especially those belonging to scheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), other backward classes (OBC) and minority communities as well children of below poverty line (BPL) families.
The KGBV scheme was launched by Government of India to make the education system more responsive to the needs of marginalised girls and to enhance their access and retention. Initially it ran as a separate scheme but was merged with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme with effect from April 1, 2007.
