Shimla: Struggling with severe financial crisis, the Himachal Pradesh govt has now formulated a special policy for engaging English and mathematics teachers for a five-year period in govt schools at a fixed honorarium of Rs 30,000 per month, payable only for 10 months in an academic year.These teachers will be selected through Rajya Chayan Aayog or any other recruitment agency through an open competitive examination and shall be engaged through a merit-based counselling system, but shall not be deemed as govt employees in any manner.
Himachal Pradesh’s overall debt burden has crossed Rs 1.03 lakh crore this fiscal year and the recent discontinuation of the revenue deficit grant (RDG) by the central govt, based on the 16th Finance Commission’s recommendations, has dealt a severe blow to the hill state.Interestingly, the new policy notified on Thursday makes a critical observation: “It has been noted in the public sector that when appointments are made on a regular basis, efficiency and professional ethics tend to decline, causing loss to the education system.”The govt also acknowledged that earlier teacher recruitment models through parent-teacher association, school management committee, and sub-division levels failed to attract talented professionals. Consequently, these mechanisms were discontinued to make way for the new system, designed to function “while staying within the state’s financial resources”.The govt maintained that the scheme aimed to engage teachers with higher educational qualifications than those prescribed for the Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) and Post Graduate Teacher (PGT) positions under the existing recruitment and promotion rules. Importantly, these teachers will not be appointed against sanctioned TGT or PGT posts but will serve exclusively under the special sub-scheme.Eligibility criteria specified that applicants must be between 25 and 45 years of age on the last date of application. Candidates must hold a master’s degree in English or mathematics with at least 50% marks in graduation, along with a BEd degree.English or mathematics must be a compulsory subject in BEd, BA-BEd, or BSc-BEd programmes. General category candidates must obtain 55% marks in the relevant subject at the graduation level, while the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes candidates are eligible with 45% overall marks and 50% in the subject concerned.The state’s reservation policy, both horizontal and vertical, will apply. Teachers engaged under the scheme cannot claim regularisation and may also serve as substitute teachers during leave periods or against vacant posts. These teachers shall also function as substitute teachers during the leave period of any teacher or against any vacant post, read the notification.MSID:: 128253618 413 |
