The Uttarakhand High Court order giving an extension of two months to the guest teachers has enthused thousands of such teachers working in different parts of State.
On Tuesday, a bench comprising of Chief Justice of Uttarakhand HC, Justice K M Joseph and Justice V K Bisht while hearing a special appeal directed the State Government to extend the services of guest teacher by two months.
The Court gave these orders in view of the future of the students who would be deprived of the services of the teachers. The HC also asked the State Government to expedite the process of permanent recruitment in the vacant posts of teachers.
The Vice President of the association of guest teachers, Harish Arya told The Pioneer that the HC order is very good. He said that the State Government should now ensure a permanent solution for thousands of guest teachers. The State Government had informed the HC that there are 5122 guest teachers in the state.
“We have served in the Government schools for more than two years now. The guest teachers have worked with dedication and hard work which was reflected in 9 percent improvement the result last year. We will meet the state Chief Minister and education minister soon and demand that the Government should find some permanent solution for the guest teachers,’’ he said.
To fill large number of vacant posts of teachers in government schools of the state the education department appointed 6214 teachers.
As per the provision of the contract, the department terminated their services on March 2016 after which these teachers started a massive agitation. The state was under spell of President’s rule at that time and these teachers got boosted when Chief Minister Harish Rawat and education minister Mantri Prasad Naithani extended their support to them. When the Congress government was restored in the state following President’s rule, released a Government Order (GO) for reinstatement of these teachers.
This GO was contested in the court which rendered the entire process of recruitment of guest teachers as unconstitutional. The court however said that the government can appoint these teachers till March 31, 2017, if its wishes. The guest teachers contested this decision in double bench which granted a two month reprieve to them.