Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Friday that until new teachers were appointed, services should be taken from retired teachers and they should be given a fixed honorarium.

Handing over appointment letters to 219 principals selected by Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission as a part of Mission Rozgar at Lok Bhavan, the chief minister pointed out, “During the previous government’s tenure, secondary education colleges had become ‘hotbeds of cheating’. The cheating mafia took contracts to pass the children in the examinations. However, significant improvements have been implemented in the last six years to address this issue.”

Stating that principals were the backbone of educational institutions, the chief minister said, “If principals remain disciplined and promote new activities and innovations in colleges, then meaningful outcomes will be achieved.”

He further said that the High School and Intermediate Board examinations conducted by the Secondary Education Council last year had become an example in the country. The Council conducted cheating-free exams for 56 lakh students within 15 days and also declared the results within 15 days, he added.

He emphasised that principals should make schools the centre of creative activities and also engage with parents. Along with the curriculum, students should also be given information about the country, the world, and government schemes related to youth and women's welfare, he added.

“This not only imparts knowledge to the students but also raises awareness, making the principal’s tenure memorable,” he stated.

Yogi further said that this was the same Uttar Pradesh, where there were security breaches in the previous governments. The citizens of the state did not feel safe and there was a prevailing atmosphere of lawlessness and disorder, he added.

He mentioned that earlier riots and corruption used to be the hallmarks of UP and investors were leaving the state due to these circumstances.

“When our government provided a safe environment, the state received investment proposals worth Rs 38 lakh crore through the Global Investors’ Summit. This will provide jobs to more than one crore youth,” he said.

Yogi further said that in the last six years, the state government had been successful in providing government jobs to six lakh youth in a fair and transparent manner, including the appointment of 1,64,000 teachers.

The chief minister said that Uttar Pradesh was the centre of spiritual and cultural heritage. He said the state received the highest number of spiritual tourists in the country, and there was a significant growth in this sector. “Before 2017, only 1.5-2 crore tourists visited Uttar Pradesh, but now this number has increased to 30 crore tourists in a year,” he said and added that various types of employment were created with the arrival of tourists in the state.

Yogi said that if collective efforts were made, Uttar Pradesh could become the leading economy in the country. He also emphasised that Uttar Pradesh was a centre for education. He said during the time of independence, UP had supplied teachers to various states in the country.

“We will again have to make efforts in that direction and raise an army of disciplined and patriot citizens,” he concluded.

In the programme, Minister of State of Secondary Education (Independent Charge) Gulab Devi, Chief Secretary Durga Shanker Mishra, Additional Chief Secretary (Secondary Education) Deepak Kumar, officials from the Education department were present.