Over 89% principal posts vacant in Delhi government schools for 8-10 years: Teachers' body

NEW DELHI: Over 89 percent posts of principals are lying vacant in Delhi government schools for the last eight to 10 years, the Government School Teachers’ Association (GSTA) said. The teachers’ body urged the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena to give directions to the Directorate of Education to stop the promotion of limited candidates for the post of principals. GSTA also asked him to look at the direct recruitment of 363 principals through the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) without reviving the 244 seats eliminated due to being vacant since 2010.

In a letter to Delhi LG, GSTA explained that there are a total of 950 sanctioned posts of principals which include 475 for promotion, 475 for direct recruitment. The posts include 570 seats for female candidates and 380 for male.

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Of this, 108 posts have been filled till date while 842 are lying vacant. Of the total filled posts, 70 have been filled under direct category, 38 under the promotion category. Of the total vacant posts, 437 are under the category of promotion while 405 are under direct category.

“While according to dats available from the DOE’s secretary branch, less than 440 male and females vice principals are eligible for promotion to the post of principals, and surprisingly, they all have been deprived due to various wrong principles and guidelines of the Department of Education,” GSTA said in the letter.

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GSTA said that it noticed the education department has started the promotion process for the post of principals for only 180 candidates “in a hurry” without any justification. The teachers’ association pointed out that 437 seats remain vacant and “appropriate suitable and qualified candidates” are available in the department.

Asking the LG to call for justification and explanation from the department, GSTA alleged, “Your prompt assistance in this situation is strongly desired, given the foregoing facts. This is because a few department personnel are constantly deceiving and willfully concealing various DPC facts, and, as part of a conspiracy, attempting to complete the DPC process in a hurry, exclusively to benefit a few limited candidates.”