Badal tells teachers to discharge duties with devotion

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today asked teachers to discharge their duties as nation builders with utmost devotion, honesty and commitment to shape the destiny of future generations.

Addressing 4500 newly-appointed teachers here at Mandi Bhawan, he said it was a matter of great joy and satisfaction both for the teachers as well as the state government to hand over appointment letters after a long, strenuous procedure ensuring fair selection.

Badal said that he had been apprised by Education Minister Daljit Singh Cheema that the entire recruitment process was done on the merit basis.

He emphasised on the need to ensure the selection process is always conducted in a fair, transparent and unbiased manner to enable the bright and capable students to prove their worth.
 

He said that 14,000 more teachers would be recruited soon as the selection process was already under way.

Noting that the newly recruited teachers should desist from getting their places of posting frequently changed by mounting pressure on the authorities, Badal said the trend was unfair especially for the young teachers who could easily serve in the rural areas more enthusiastically in the prime of their youth.

He rued that a lot of time and energy were wasted on such transfers as teachers have made it a routine exercise.

Badal further said that he had given a free hand to key departments of Health and Education to recruit as much people as they required against the vacant posts as paucity of staff in these departments directly affect the life of a common man.

He said the government had opened 10 meritorious schools across the state to impart quality education to the bright students from rural background so as to enable them to compete with their peers educated from convent and private schools.

The state government has already earmarked a budgetary provision of Rs 10 crore to provide free education facilities to the students passed out from these meritorious schools to pursue professional higher education in technical and medical fields.

The government's initiative to set up Maharaja Ranjit Singh Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for boys and Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for girls has also gone well with the state in reversing the trend of falling quota of officers' recruitment in the armed forces, he said.