Merger of 800 govt primary schools: Teachers call off stir after talks with education secretary

The protest called by the primary school teachers against the government for ordering merger of 800 government schools in Punjab was called off after a meeting with secretary of school education Krishan Kumar in Mohali Tuesday. The secretary also warned the teachers that there should be no bogus admissions to increase the enrollment and there would be proper screening of admissions from now till November 30.

The teachers who gave the call for a protest across state on October 25, claimed that the secretary agreed to their demand of starting pre-primary classes immediately instead of November 14.

“The secretary has assured us that we can start admissions for pre-primary classes immediately and no schools will be closed so we have postponed today’s protest till November 30,” said JS Sidhu, president Elementary Teachers Union Punjab.

However, issuing a written statement, the secretary school education denied any such development and said, “We told the teachers that they can start looking for children in villages for pre-primary classes at their own level if they want to, even before formal orders are issued. We will try to issue the orders of announcing pre-primary classes at the earliest but the formal inauguration of the project will be on November 14.”

He added that in no case teachers should fake admissions just to inflate the numbers and save schools from merger. “We will screen each admission done from now onwards till November 30. If a school manages more than 20 students till then, it won’t be merged,” he said.

An official communication from the education department also clarified that the orders to merge the schools stand as it is and there has been no modification. “We will see the final status of schools on November 30 but as of now, they stand it is. No orders have been withdrawn or modified in any manner,” said Komal Singh, spokesperson, Punjab School Education Board.

The education department had recently announced ‘merger’ of 800 government schools in Punjab with less than 20 students and within 1-km radius of another school.