More than two hundred government teachers of the master cadre (who teach grades 6 to 10) were promoted to English teachers of classes 11 and 12 in PunjabOf the 301 teachers in the teaching cadre promoted as English teachers, only three have basic knowledge and teaching experience in the language, the Indian Express reported.
According to the English daily, the remaining 298 teachers have taught students of different subjects in grades 6 to 10. The promoted teachers were experts in different subjects including mathematics, science, social studies, Punjabi, Hindietc
Punjab’s education department has promoted 300 teachers as English teachers, but 127 of them are science teachers, 102 are social studies teachers, 41 are mathematics teachers, 4 taught agriculture and one was a physical education teacher. Interestingly, 23 teachers who got promotions had experience in other languages like Punjabi and Hindi. According to the order accessed by Indian Express, 16 teachers taught Hindi and 7 had experience in Punjabi. Mint could not independently confirm the news.
Officials say teachers are promoted ‘by rules’
The promotions of the teachers from the teaching cadre were done as per the “rules”, the officials told IE, citing that all of them completed their postgraduate (MA) course in English from a “university or institution recognized as per the guidelines of the University Grants Commission”. The English daily reported that most of the teachers pursued their MA in English through distance learning.
Shortage of English teachers in Punjab
Due to a significant shortage of English teachers, it has been reported that teachers from different specialties have been forced to teach the subject in some government schools in Punjab. The state government did not have a separate cadre to recruit English teachers until 2007. Government schools in Punjab are suffering from a significant shortage of teachers. Between 35 and 50 percent of the teaching posts are vacant in the state. According to a report by ETV Bharat, one teacher teaches six classes in many government schools.
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