Teachers’ promotion process remains stuck

Amaninder Pal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 21

Even as the High Court recently vacated the stay from promoting over 2,200 master-cadre teachers to lecturers, the School Education Department hasn’t issued promotion orders to over 400 teachers, who were not given promotion letters due to the court’s intervention in the middle of the promotion process.

Moreover, the department is also silent over the status of around 1,800 teachers, who are being treated as master-cadre teachers despite the fact they have been given promotion orders by the department. Some of them have even joined their new place of posting.

The department had promoted over 2,200 master-cadre teachers as lecturers on July 3. However, the teachers who had obtained masters degrees from universities outside the state through distance education route were not considered eligible for promotion.

Acting on a petition filed by the affected teachers, the High Court had “stayed the promotion operation” on July 14. By that date, the department had already handed over promotion letters to over 1,800 teachers.

On July 19, the state Education Department declared that all those teachers who were handed over promotions letters and even those who had joined as lecturers at their new place of posting “should not be treated to have been promoted to the post of lecturers.” The department also announced that such teachers would get salary in the pay scales meant for masters.

The court vacated the stay on August 10.

Balbir Singh Dhol, DPI (Schools), could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

DS Punia, general secretary, Democratic Teachers Front, said, “The department had taken a few hours to halt promotions after the court orders. But even nine days after the stay has been vacated, the department is silent on this issue. Authorities should have taken a decision on the day the court vacated the stay.”