Probe why material from private firms used for project: Teachers

Jalandhar, March 31

Members of the Government Teachers’ Union, Punjab, has sought a vigilance probe into the use of reading material from private publishers and firms for various projects and programmes of the School Education Department by the head office in the previous year.

Union’s state president Sukhwinder Singh Chahal, general secretary Kuldeep Singh Daurka and press secretary Surjit Singh Mohali said for nearly a decade, higher officials had kept students away from the NCERT-established syllabus by emphasising on the “Parho Punjab Parhao Punjab” (PPPP) project, for which teachers were deputed as supervisors and loads of non-syllabus reading material was sent to schools.

The union leaders said without seeking the advice of higher education experts and scholars, the officials were running their own projects in schools. They said while such projects should be run for a maximum of three years, the PPPP project ran for over a decade, for the implementation of which 4,000 teachers were kept out of school.

They alleged that under the PPPP project, NAS (National Achievement Survey) and PAS (Punjab Achievement Survey), tonnes of study material was sent to schools. They raised questions over choosing private publishers instead of the government press to get material printed for the same. They sought a vigilance probe into the issue.

Notably, while PPPP project was a flagship project of the previous government, teachers remain divided on it.

A primary school teacher said: “We used to get pictorial books, flash cards and vibrant study material which aided students in grasping things before they started reading theoretical content in the books. It was very helpful in making basic concepts clear for young students. For the past four to five years, no material has been received and the project has been reduced to a mere formality.”

Another teacher from a primary school, said: “Rather than concentrating on syllabus, a lot of time was wasted on the project. We had to make videos and show results — focusing on the project when a diligent teacher could have achieved much more by teaching syllabus. Some of the school heads also stopped forwarding money to teachers, received for the project. Some of the implementation was ruined at the school level. Also, the district mentors and others, designated for the project, got lax over the years.”

Should’ve used govt press

• Raises questions over choosing private publishers instead of the government press to get material printed for the “Parho Punjab Parhao Punjab” project.
• The union leaders said without seeking the advice of higher education experts and scholars, the officials were running their own projects in schools.