The Telegraph: Chandigarh: Thursday, January 04, 2018.
If failure is
the stepping stone to success, more than 300 teachers inducted into Punjab's
primary schools over the past decade are living testimonies to the adage.
But neither
their students nor too many others knew about the "accomplishment"
until an RTI query blew the lid off a marks scandal that is being described as
"the tip of the iceberg".
The question
under the Right to Information Act revealed that these teachers had failed to
clear one or more subjects in their Class X board examinations. Some teachers
had scored as low as 1 out of 100 in English and 9 in mathematics.
It is not
clear whether the teachers landed the jobs by forging documents or by bribing
officials or because of lapses in scrutiny. A candidate needs to pass in all
subjects in the Classes X and XII board exams to apply for a diploma that is
mandatory for a primary school teacher's job.
The figures
came up in response to an RTI query filed by a Punjab-based NGO, Social
Reformers, that sought information on the number of teachers in the state's
schools and their educational qualifications.
The data
provided by 10 districts so far revealed that 313 teachers had failed in
mathematics, science, English, Hindi and social sciences in Class X.
"This is
only the tip of the iceberg. We have obtained merely 20 per cent of the total
data. The education department was not forthcoming with the information and it
took us a lot of efforts to get to this till now," said Harpreet Singh
Sandhu, vice-president of the NGO.
The
information collected dates back to 2007, when the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP
combine was in power in Punjab. The Congress came to power in March last year.
According to
the records, Tarn Taran district has 36 teachers who failed to clear one or
more subjects in their Class X board exams. One of them got 9 out of 100 in
mathematics. Two teachers got 1 and 4 in English, respectively.
The records
showed that in Moga, 59 teachers failed to clear one or more subjects in Class
X - 31 failed in mathematics, 10 in English, 6 in science, 11 in social science
and 1 in Hindi.
"There
appears to be a deliberate attempt at covering up. The Sangrur district
education officer said in his reply that none of the teachers in his district
had failed in the school-leaving exam. But the Malerkotla block education
officer (in Sangrur) submitted that four teachers had failed in mathematics and
science. This needs a thorough probe," Sandhu said.
"From
the entire Ludhiana district, we have received information only from one block,
where 19 teachers were unsuccessful in clearing all the papers," Sandhu added.
In districts
such as Shri Muktsar Sahib, Ferozepur and Fazilka, the number of such teachers
was between 40 and 50, according to the records.
Of the 18
such teachers in Pathankot, one cleared the paper in which he had failed after
re-examination.
Punjab
education minister Aruna Chaudhary was not available for comment. Her
predecessor in the Akali government, Daljeet Singh Cheema, said he was open to
any probe.
"During
my stint as minister, the rules for elementary teacher training were very
strict in Punjab. Many students went to other states such as Jammu and Kashmir
and Bihar to do the course, where the rules were not strictly followed. We
tried to stop such students from getting jobs in schools here but did not
succeed. I am 100 per cent open to an investigation on this matter,"
Cheema told The Telegraph.
Sandhu said
his NGO would move Punjab and Haryana High Court and seek a probe.
"This is
the biggest scam in Punjab. The entire education system is playing with the
lives of the children. A CBI probe should be ordered immediately to investigate
how these teachers were recruited and find out their total number," said
Harjot Singh Bains, an Aam Aadmi Party leader.
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