After 6 months, schools open in Jalandhar for teachers with 50 pc limit

Aakanksha N Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 21

After a gap of six months, the school managements were allowed to call 50 per cent staff. Both in primary and secondary schools, the teachers were going for office works, but not on a regular basis. District Education Officer (Secondary) Harinder Pal Singh said there was no such data available on how much staff attended the schools, but he said the principals had to make the decision on the number of staff members they wanted on their premises.

“The students are allowed to take guidance from teachers only after the their parents’ consent,” he said.

Gurinderjit Kaur, Principal, Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden, said she had not called 50 per cent staff. “We have been instructed that we can call a maximum of 50 per cent of our staff, but I didn’t feel the need to call 50 per cent. Teachers will come according to the work. Books have arrived and the teachers will distribute books among the students tomorrow,” she said.

Khushdeep Kaur, Principal, Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Adarsh Nagar, said the teachers were already coming for work. “Since the authorities have allowed 50 per cent staff, I have asked other teachers to come and complete their pending works,” Kaur said. The students who are interested to come to the school have been asked to take consent from their parents. Looking at the strength of the students, teachers will be called, she said.

PSA begins, teachers visit students’ homes

The much-awaited Punjab Assessment Survey (PSA) started on Monday. The teachers from rural areas also visited their students’ homes to ensure they had been taking the test. One of the teachers from Lohian block said he visited around 20 homes just to make sure that there was 100 per cent attendance.

“I found out that some of the students were even not home. They at their relative’s places. Then I told their parents that they must take the test. This is what we did today,” he said. According to principals, some of the parents are labourers who come home late so students have to wait to take the test. So, the teachers, the students, and the parents, everyone remained on tenterhooks the whole day.