Team Herald
MAPUSA: The Goa School Managements’ Association on Tuesday reiterated its long-standing demand for the sanctioning of full-time teaching and non-teaching staff and called for an end to the appointment
of teachers on a contractual basis.
Speaking to media persons at the Dnyanprasark Vidyalaya hall, association action committee convenor Prashant Naik alleged that for the past three years, the Directorate of Education has been adopting delaying tactics in sanctioning full-time staff in government-aided schools.
Naik said school managements are being denied approval to fill posts on a regular basis, which is affecting the functioning of schools. “Certain preferred managements are granted permissions to fill posts on regular or full-time basis,” he alleged.
“I am the chairman of Shri Nirakar Education Society at Maxem, Canacona which caters to 95 per cent of students belonging to ST communities. For the last three years we are not sanctioned regular posts and it is impacting student learning outcomes,”
Naik said.
The association has been raising this issue since the start of the last academic year, but their demands have fallen on deaf ears. Naik pointed out that earlier, when a teacher retired and a vacancy arose, school managements would write to the Directorate of Education and receive permission to fill the post within a month. But now the whole process has become selective, he said.
School managements are of the view that teachers and non-teaching staff appointed on a contractual basis are often in search of permanent positions elsewhere, leading to a lack of continuity. They stressed that all vacant posts must be filled before the start of the new academic year in June 2025 to ensure the smooth functioning of schools and in the best interest of students.
Naik demanded that school managements be allowed to apply directly to the Directorate of Education and that full-time staff be sanctioned to eligible schools. He also urged the State government to implement the recommendations of two State-appointed committees on the grants-in-aid pattern and the Goa Schools Education Act and Rules.
“The reports submitted by the committees have already been accepted by the government and is now awaiting its implementation,” he said.
He further pointed out that with nursery to Class II now included under the Foundation category as per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the government should release grants-in-aid for pre-primary teachers.
Naik and principal Pandurang Nadkarni also appealed to the government to grant permission to various private institutions seeking to open new primary schools in Konkani and Marathi in the upcoming academic year. Manguesh Mantrawadi was also present at the press briefing.