J A L A N D H A R    E D I T I O N

Geography teachers urge govt to increase posts
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, December 30
The Postgraduate Geography Teachers Union, Punjab, has urged the state government to increase the number of posts of geography lecturers in the schools.

Postgraduate Geography Teachers Union state president Sukhjinder Singh, general secretary Dilbagh Singh and executive members Jagmohan Singh and Jaswinder Singh were among those who put up the demand here today.

They said out of 12,642 posts of school lecturers, there were only 183 posts of geography lecturers in the state. "As per a survey conducted by the Director School Education Department in 2004, as many as 400 schools were willing to start geography as a subject at the secondary level," a member said, adding that the authorities were yet to increase the number of posts of lecturers for geography.

In 2009, as many as 1,902 posts of school lecturers were created under the NABARD scheme in the state but none of these posts were meant for geography. Union members said in the present era of globalisation and climate change, the study of geography was gaining importance. "The GPS system has been introduced in cars. Youth will be able to tap this facility if they study geography in school," said a union member, adding it was one of the most scoring subjects in the civil services exams.