Ludhiana: 200 teachers to finally join govt schools today

In a major relief for government primary schools struggling with staff shortages, as many as 200 newly recruited Elementary Teacher Training (ETT) teachers are finally set to join their duties on Monday. The development comes after the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) lifted a stay order on April 20, that had put their joining on hold for weeks.

Earlier, around 100 ETT teachers had joined their schools on April 4 this year. However, the joining process for the remaining teachers was halted after a petition was filed in the HC.

Monika Rani, who is preparing to join the Government Primary School in Jawahar Nagar, said that the recruitment was part of the 5,994 posts advertised by the Punjab government in 2021. “Out of the selected candidates, a few were given appointment letters by the chief minister based on their merit, and around 100 of us joined on April 4. But due to the HC stay, the rest of us were left waiting,” she said.

Monika added that the candidates were informed that they would join by April 26. However, the constant delays had left them frustrated for nearly two years. “We were even planning to stage a protest in Mohali on Monday if the joining did not happen,” she said. Fortunately, on Saturday night, the teachers received official confirmation about their joining.

District education officer (elementary) Ravinder Kaur confirmed the development and said that all block primary education officers had been directed to assist the teachers in completing their joining formalities. She highlighted the urgent need of new teachers in government schools, mentioning that around 550 primary teacher posts were vacant in the district.

“We earlier got 100 teachers, and now with 200 more joining, the burden on schools will ease significantly,” Kaur said.

Officials also noted that this fresh recruitment will help improve the quality of education in government schools and reduce the workload on existing staff.