HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, May 18: Stating that the education sector will be accorded the topmost priority and all functionaries of the education department must dedicate themselves for the overall upliftment of the education sector, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday directed to strictly enforce transfer and posting of teachers as per the provisions of the “Assam Elementary and Secondary School Teacher (Regulation of Posting and Transfer Act) 2020”.
Sarma took a comprehensive review of the functioning of the education department in presence of the education minister Ranoj Pegu and finance minister Ajanta Neog with officials of the department in a meeting held at Janata Bhawan and laid stress on development of the basic fundamentals related to the governance in the schools for quality delivery of education to the students in a wholesome manner.
The chief minister suggested developing software immediately to execute the transfer and posting of teachers through an online portal which would also include merit based preferential choice of posting against vacancies.
Sarma, while giving a direction to immediately initiate the process of transition of the dissolved madrassa to general schools, asked the officials to ensure recruitment of teachers on priority basis particularly in provincialised and government schools and meeting up of periodic gaps. He further asked the department to empower the head of the institutions to periodically and instantly fill up the vacancies on the basis of the necessary requirements. The chief minister also suggested constituting independent recruitment boards for polytechnic and engineering colleges for expeditious filling up of vacancies.
Further instructing the department to operationalise new model schools and evolve a policy for teachers’ retention, the chief minister directed for the creation of posts in the newly established upgraded schools in Tea Garden areas where the PWD had completed the construction.
Moreover, saying that the recruitment of college teachers should be a continuous process, the chief minister directed to immediately complete civil construction gaps identified during ‘Gunotsav’. He asked the department to conduct Gunotsav in 2022. The chief minister also directed creation and recruitment of administrative and other posts for the newly created districts and education blocks, besides streamlining distribution of free text books for ensuring timely availability of free text books and developing e-text at the earliest by Assam Text Book Production and Publication Corporation Limited.
Sarma also directed the officials to ensure that all the newly provincialised Teachers and Tutors draw their salary by 1st of June and the distribution of scooties that has been pending is completed by 15th of June this year. He also asked the education department to examine bringing all the elementary level contractual teachers under one umbrella, which may be the Directorate of Elementary Education.