Raipur
The Korba district administration has suspended four teachers who did not join their new schools after a rationalisation process. The district education officer has also issued a show-cause notice and withheld the salaries of many teachers for two months for failing to join their allocated schools.
The action was taken after the district and divisional committees rejected the appeals of these teachers, who had not joined their new postings after the rationalisation process. The district education officer has instructed all teachers to join their allotted schools as soon as possible to ensure that children’s education is not affected.
According to the district education officer, 292 assistant teachers and 15 headmasters from primary schools, and 153 teachers and headmasters from middle schools were identified as surplus in Korba district. As per the rationalisation guidelines, these teachers were to be posted in schools with no teachers or only one teacher.
Since the number of single-teacher primary schools in Korba district was more than the number of surplus teachers, the district-level rationalisation committee decided to post the surplus teachers in remote single-teacher schools and teacher-less schools. Open counselling was conducted, and posting orders were issued.
The district education officer said that teachers who were unhappy with their posting orders filed appeals with the district-level rationalisation committee, but their applications were rejected. Following this, the concerned teachers filed petitions in the Chhattisgarh High Court in Bilaspur. The court directed the district-level rationalisation committee to hear and resolve the appeals within a week. After the hearing, five appeals were accepted, while the rest were rejected.
The state government constituted divisional and state-level committees to resolve the appeals of teachers dissatisfied with the rationalisation. The teachers whose applications were rejected by the district-level committee filed appeals with the divisional committee. The divisional committee also heard their appeals and accepted two, while the rest were rejected.
During this process, show-cause notices were issued to teachers who had not joined their new postings. After finding their responses unsatisfactory, four assistant teachers were suspended. The salaries of all teachers who have not joined have been withheld for the last two months.
The district education officer said that most teachers have joined their new postings in remote primary and middle schools in the district, ensuring regular teaching. In schools with a shortage of teachers, honorary teachers have been appointed through the District Mineral Trust fund.
