LG not fulfilling responsibility on regularisation of guest teachers in Delhi: Sisodia

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Tuesday accused LG Anil Baijal of not "owning up" his responsibility on the issue of regularisation of guest teachers and alleged that the delay in decision-making has impacted the education of lakhs of children. In a letter to Baijal, Sisodia, who holds the education portfolio, said the LG not discussing the issues of guest teachers has brought the government school system on the verge of collapse.

Sisodia's letter came against the backdrop of protests by guest teachers in the national capital. The government has convened an emergency cabinet meeting Wednesday on the issue. As many as 25,000 teachers are staring at uncertainty after their contracts ended on Feb 28. They have not yet been informed whether their services have been terminated or their contracts will be renewed.

The Delhi government had passed a bill to regularise the employment of around 15,000 guest teachers (working on contractual basis) in government-run schools in October 2017. "It is unfortunate that in last two years, you have not considered even once to discuss the issues concerning the guest teachers with me," Sisodia wrote.

"The immediate consequence is that while exams are going on in schools, I do not know how many teachers will turn up in school tomorrow. Your lack of owning up the responsibility is not only impacting the education of lakhs of children in the schools of Delhi government but also the life, livelihood and dignity of thousands of guest teachers," he added. The Delhi High Court had directed that guest teachers would continue in their services till Feb 28 or till the time regular teachers were appointed. It gave the direction during the hearing of a plea filed by an NGO against the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board over the appointment of permanent teachers.

(With inputs from agencies.)