AMRITSAR: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced eight ‘guarantees’ for teachers in the state as part of his promise for reforms in the education sector if his party wins the 2022 polls.
The eight guarantees include creating ‘Delhi-like’ environment in the education sector in Punjab, regular jobs for outsourcing and contractual teachers, a transparent transfer policy, no non-teaching work, permanent recruitment on vacant posts, sending teachers abroad for training, policy for promotions and cashless medical facilities for teachers and their family members.
Speaking to media persons in Amritsar, Kejriwal said most of the teachers in Punjab have been working for only Rs 10,000 per month for the last 18 years; which was unfair. In an appeal to Punjab chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Kejriwal said that the two demands of the teachers protesting on the tanks; to fill the vacancies and make the raw teachers permanent, should be immediately accepted. “If the Channi government does not do so, then during my next visit to Punjab, I will go to the teachers’ dharna and the demands of the teachers will be met on the formation of the AAP government,” he said.
The Delhi CM alleged that Punjab was forcing a teacher to teach in two schools located at a distance of 200 km. To bring in transparency, the policy of transfer of teachers in Punjab will be changed on the lines of Delhi.
Kejriwal said that non-teaching tasks will not be assigned to teachers and they will not be involved in census and other clerical work.
He also promised to fill all the vacant posts of the teachers. Kejriwal said that education reforms in Delhi were not done by Arvind Kejriwal or Manish Sisodia alone; they were done in collaboration with the teachers. The Delhi government has provided a conducive environment to teachers and provided world class training.
Kejriwal said that the teachers of Delhi have been trained in modern teaching methods in Finland, Canada, USA and England, along with the management institutes of the country and similar training would be imparted to the teachers of Punjab.
Kejriwal appealed to the teachers to join the party to create a conducive environment for education in the state, change the system and create a new Punjab. He said that the future of more than 24 lakh children studying in government schools in Punjab was in the dark due to the incompetence of previous governments as there was no such thing as education in Punjab. By painting the gates of government schools, they are being branded as smart schools; which is messing with the future of the children.
The AAP national convener also called upon the teachers to join the AAP’s campaign to transform Punjab’s government school education system like Delhi.
- 1 Transform the education system with teachers
- 2 Regularise contractual job
- 3 Change transfer policy
- 4 No non-teaching work for teachers
- 5 Fill all vacancies
- 6 Training from abroad
- 7 Timely promotion
- 8 Cashless medical facility
