Managers making appointments without following reservation criteria; appointments in aided schools should be left to PSC: Khader Committee

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: According to the Khader committee report, managers are making arbitrary appointments without following the reservation criteria in aided schools where salary is paid from the government exchequer. The committee also recommended that the appointment to all government-paid schools should be left to the PSC to avoid this situation and ensure social justice.

The criticism of the illegal appointments made by the managers was in the report submitted by the expert committee chaired by Prof. MA Khader regarding the implementation of the Right to Education Act, 2009. The possibility of setting up a teacher recruitment board for teacher recruitment should be explored. Stating that the OMR exams cannot identify the truly meritorious, the committee also criticized the OMR method as a mechanical test to filter out people.

Approval is often an issue in teacher appointments made by managers in anticipation of tenure. This is the reason for the plight of appointees who have to visit offices multiple times for approval. The conditions of approval should be revised from time to time. All aided school teacher recruitment should be done through the recruitment software 'Samanwaya' only. As long as the present mode of appointment is continued, the teachers working in the posts which may become vacant due to a decrease in the number of children, should be appointed in other aided schools. For this, the current education rules should be amended.

In case of delay in approval of posts or appointment of teachers in government schools, appointments should be made on a temporary basis to ensure the right of children to education. Insecurity in tenure recognition affects classroom learning. The report also states that legal scrutiny of irregular appointments is adversely affecting the functioning of education offices.