*Glaring aspect ignored since 2004
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Apr 11: Initiating a major step towards cleansing prevailing mess in the School Education Department, the Government has ordered closure of four Primary Schools in the heart of Jammu city, which were having no student and were being used during the past over one decade with the sole objective of ensuring comfortable posting of ‘blue-eyed’ teachers. These teachers have now been transferred to the institutions reeling under shortage of staff.
Similar action is likely to be initiated in case of more schools having zero enrolment during the past many years but clubbed with other schools just to accommodate teachers at the cost of Government exchequer as a drive is going on in both the capital cities to identify such institutions.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that during the exercise to identify schools to be covered under model clusters scheme, the Directorate of School Education found Government Primary Schools of Maheshpura, Shalamar, Khoo Talab and B C Road merged with the Middle School, B C Road, which is operating from two quarters of the Estates Department.
In the functional Government Middle School, B C Road, there are one master and nine teachers while as 12 teachers were found posted in the four merged Primary Schools despite the fact that neither any infrastructure for these schools was created nor efforts were made to ensure enrolment of students.
During enquiry into this aspect on the directions of Minister for Education Naeem Akhtar, it came to the notice of Directorate of School Education that there was zero enrolment in these four Primary Schools, which didn’t have any building as such were clubbed in 2004 on the verbal directions of the then Chief Education Officer (CEO), Jammu.
Though the respective Chief Education Officers (CEOs) of Jammu continued to order transfers and postings of teachers in these four schools, no attention was ever paid to ensure enrolment of students in these schools in order to achieve the objective behind their creation, sources said. “This clearly indicates that those who remained CEOs of Jammu during the past 11 years only paid attention towards adjusting blue-eyed teachers in these schools for obvious reasons and at the cost of Government exchequer”, they added.
According to the rough estimates, around Rs 4 crore were spent on the salary and HRA components in respect of 12 teachers posted in these schools from time to time but ensuring enrolment of students, which was the primary objective behind creation of these schools, and utilizing services of teachers, was never taken seriously.
Since these four schools have been ‘functioning’ in the Estates Quarters without any enrolment and any further continuation of teachers in the schools will only be construed as misappropriation of resources, the Director School Education, Simrandeep Singh has shifted teachers posted in these schools to the schools, which are in need of staff with immediate effect. He has also ordered the CEO Jammu to take custody of records of these Primary Schools and report compliance by April 15, 2015.
“Since these four schools were only acting as comfort zone for the teachers, these will remain shut till further orders”, sources said. They, however, clarified that Government Middle School, B C Road having enrolment of 30 students will continue to function and provide admission to the students of the areas in its vicinity.
The teachers shifted from these four non-functional Primary Schools have been posted in Primary School, Upper Churta Dansal, MPS Topki, Dansal, GPS Ratnal in Bishnah, PS Saharan Marh, GPS Badyal Quazian R S Pura, GPS Dher R S Pura, GMS Devigarh, GHS Salehar Arnia, GPS Hansa, GPS Murchapur, GMS Pindi Charkan and GPS Pandoria Manhasan in Arnia.
“Since exercise to identify schools having zero enrolment but sufficient teachers is going on, the possibility of more schools like those clubbed with Middle School B C Road coming to the fore cannot be ruled out”, sources said.
They disclosed that Directorate of School Education is also going to order closure of a school opened in Sainik Colony area under SSA scheme only with the sole objective of engaging two Rehbar-e-Taleems and provide undue financial assistance for the infrastructure taken on rent basis.
“This school was opened despite the fact that another school that too with own building is functional within a distance of 500 meters”, they said, adding “it has been decided that 15 students of school opened under SSA would be shifted to another school”. In this way, the rent being paid to the private person would be saved.
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