The teacher unions in Punjab have expressed strong disapproval of the recent directive from the Punjab government, which mandates the reassignment of educators from government middle schools to other institutions. The unions argue that this action by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government marks an initial move towards the dismantling of middle schools across the state.
According to a recent communication from the Directorate of School Education (Secondary), District Education Officers (DEOs) have been given the authority to reallocate teachers from schools with low student enrollment to those that are more populated in order to optimize the pupil-teacher ratio.
A segment of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), under the leadership of Vikramdev Singh, criticized the decision, asserting that it effectively establishes a permanent transfer of teachers from under-enrolled middle schools to those with higher enrollments, all under the guise of temporary measures.
The DTF highlighted that the new guidelines stipulate that schools with student populations ranging from 1 to 30 will retain only two teachers, those with up to 60 students will keep three teachers, and schools with up to 90 students will have four teachers, with the surplus educators being reassigned elsewhere. The organization views this as a significant threat to the operational viability of middle schools.
Vikramdev Singh, the state president of the DTF, has called for the retraction of this order, labeling it another move toward the potential closure of government educational institutions. He noted that, since 2021, various subject-specific teachers, including those in Physical Education and Arts, have already been removed from middle schools, leading to a dire shortage of specialized educators. This, he argues, undermines the quality of education and contravenes the Right to Education Act.
The DTF further suggested that the declining student numbers are a direct result of the indirect enforcement of the National Education Policy 2020, which favors Schools of Eminence and PM SHRI schools by providing them with enhanced resources and full-time teachers, while neglecting rural and underprivileged schools.
Another faction of the DTF, led by Digvijay Pal Sharma, also condemned the government’s decision, criticizing the AAP’s initial promises of educational reform as being contradictory to their current actions, which they view as an attempt to undermine education altogether.
Sharma’s group described the government’s directive as a regressive measure, mandating that teachers in middle schools cover all subjects similarly to those in primary schools. The new order reduces the number of subject-specific educators, raising concerns about the feasibility of a Punjabi teacher instructing in subjects such as Mathematics, Science, English, Physical Education, Social Studies, or Hindi.
The union leaders pointed out that the education department, which previously established a framework for four subject teachers in middle schools, is now suggesting that only two be retained. They have urged the government to rescind this directive and ensure that each middle school is staffed by a teacher for every subject. Additionally, the DTF emphasized the urgent need for the government to recruit more teachers to address the ongoing unemployment crisis among educators in the state.
For ongoing updates, follow us on Instagram.
