Delhi Assembly resolves to put teacher recruitment on hold

New Delhi, Aug 10 (IANS) The Delhi Assembly on Thursday passed a resolution to put on hold the recruitment of teachers till a criterion is readied to give weightage to guest teachers, in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling.

The resolution was moved by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Rajesh Gupta.

The move came after the Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) released an advertisement for recruitment of teachers stating the existing guest and contract teachers would get "age relaxation" for the number of years they taught in government schools.

The advertisement, however, did not talk about any weightage to be given to them in the recruitment process -- which the government has been advocating.

Replying to a discussion, Education Minister Manish Sisodia said there were around 50,000 teachers teaching about 16 lakh students at government schools in Delhi, out of which around 17,000 were guest or contract teachers. It would be an injustice to them if they were not given weightage in the recruitment process.

Sisodia, also the Deputy Chief Minister, alleged that the move to recruit teachers without giving guest teachers a weightage was aimed at derailing the education system in the city.

"I was shocked to see the advertisement... I was never consulted regarding this. When asked, I was informed that Services does not come under the Delhi government's purview," the Minister told the house.

"This is the biggest conspiracy to derail the works of this government and also to derail the education system in the city which is being praised all over the world."

He said the government was of the view that along with giving age relaxation to the existing guest or contract teachers, they should also be granted weightage or preference against the services they have rendered. But the advertisement does not talk about any such facility.

"I have written to the LG Anil Baijal and urged him to put the current recruitment process by DSSSB on hold till the Directorate of Education formulates a policy for giving weightage to guest teachers based on the judgements by the Supreme Court," Sisodia said.

Sisodia further said that the move would lead to the removal of trained and experienced guest teachers and adversely impact the teaching at government schools.

AAP MLA Madan Lal said that with the help of guest teachers, the schools system was going well and "some people want to end this".

"Like they intervened with Mohalla Clinics when we were doing good work, now they're intervening in education," he said.