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Bogus appointments eat up education budget |
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KOHIMA, JUN 22: Stressing on the issue of bogus appointment of teachers as a major concern for both the government and the School Education Department
, Minister for School Education and SCERT Nyeiwang Konyak stated that the number of unaccountable appointees in the department had resulted in a shortfall of almost Rs. 28.00 crores in the department’s budget for meeting salary needs during 2008-09.
Addressing the Nagaland School Education Officers’ Conference in Kohima on Monday, the minister called for stricter action in re-deployment and weeding out of proxy teachers as a step towards bringing quality education system.
Referring to the constitution of SIT (Special Investigating Team) by the government to probe bogus appointees and over-drawal of budget during 2008-09, Konyak pointed out that the issue could have been avoided had the DDOs been vigilant in monitoring expenditure on a monthly basis and properly analysed reasons for increase. In this regard, he urged the sincere and consistent participation of all officials for effective and efficient functioning of the department and also asked the DDOs to be mindful of mandatory responsibilities.
On a happier note, the minister lauded government schools for the marked improvement in results in the last HSLC and HSSLC examinations, specifically naming government schools in Mokokchung, Phek and Peren districts. He, however, expressed disconcertedness for the continued nil results in some others and called for collective effort through intervention programmes and a ‘closer and more involved participation in the SSA programmes’ as one way to ‘monitor the quality of performance of students’.
In a move to facilitate better monitoring and supervision at the field level, he revealed that the government would be providing necessary funds to purchase new vehicles for all DEOs and DISs.
Meanwhile, the minister proposed an eight point meeting agenda to be discussed during the 2-day conference, which included doing away with Private Schools in villages and allowing only exceptional cases in town areas. He also mooted that teachers should be appointed only on the condition that his/her children will be admitted to government schools he/she teaches, redeployment of teachers to be done within June 30, 2009, throughout the state and that posts of proxy teachers should be terminated, among others.
Additional Chief Secretary (School Edu) Banuo Z. Jamir, in her keynote address, said the conference is a platform for sharing of ideas and finding ways to resolve ideas. She urged the gathering of DDOs, DEOs, and heads of institutions to take on the challenges and respective responsibility to avoid the practice of proxy teaching and delegation of responsibilities.
She further asked heads of institutions to recognise and recommend sincere teachers and impressed upon the gathering to avail scholarship schemes and incentive programmes of the central government.
She also pointed out issues of excess and bogus appointments, mismanagement of funds and said the entire department in under scanner and urged officials concerned to make sure this kind of issues are not repeated and exhorted them to be attentive in matters of accounts by maintaining proper records.
Two books were also released by the minister during the inaugural session – ‘Capacity building on Communitisation’ and ‘Translated Handbooks on Communitisation’ (translated into 17 dialects).
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