A district level committee headed by District Magistrates (DM) in the districts of state would check educational qualification certificates and other documents of teachers so that the teachers able to get the Government jobs on the basis of fake documents are identified, said the education minister of Uttarakhand Arvind Pandey while talking to The Pioneer on Wednesday.
He said that he has taken a very stern view on the fake degree issue and written a letter to the state Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat asking for a CBI inquiry on the issue. “One can understand that an inquiry by agency like Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) can take time so we have decided that district level committees of officials headed by respective District Magistrates (DMs) would check the certificates of the teachers. It has also come to my notice that some candidates have used false caste certificates to get into the jobs.
These certificates too would be thoroughly checked,’’ he said. The minister made it clear that the officials engaged with the task of checking the documents of teachers would be made accountable. On complaints of private schools harassing the parents and charging undue fees, the minister said that he has directed the officials to ensure that the private school refund the re-admission or any such fees which is charged by them for the facility which is not provided. He said that the schools should do away with the practice of charging caution money from the parents and in case they are levying this fee, they should refund it without delay when the student has left the school. Pandey said that he is clear in his mind that the all the schools should mandatorily recommend the books of National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT). Pandey said that he is also aware that many teachers were able to get transfers to the desired places by feigning illness and all such cases would be investigated.
On his order on ban on the usage of mobile phones by teachers in the schools, the minister said that a slight modification is being made in the order; now teachers can bring the mobile to the school but will keep it in switch off mode and place it in the office of Principal. He said that it is being done to ensure that the studies of students are not affected due to use of mobile by teachers during school time.