Chandigarh, Aug 24 (IANS) In a bid to improve the student-teacher ratio and to fill the vacant posts in Punjab schools, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has ordered officials to immediately start a recruitment drive and employ 10,810 teachers.
“Punjab government will employ 10,810 new teachers in secondary schools in the state within the next three months. In addition all posts lying vacant because of a delay in promotion would also be filled in the next three months,” an official spokesperson of the state government said here Monday.

He added: “Work has already started to fill the vacant posts of principals in Punjab schools. All primary, middle and secondary schools would be provided with sufficient facilities and infrastructure like good buildings, educated staff, labs, and libraries.”

These decisions were taken by Badal during the review meeting of the education department (schools) Saturday night.

In order to ensure the safety of students, Badal also directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to provide a list of all unsafe school buildings so that the government could take necessary action.

Badal’s media adviser Harcharan Bains, who also attended the meeting, said: “It was also decided that 590 new middle schools and 69 new primary schools would be constructed in various districts of Punjab in the current year. In addition 1,833 additional classrooms would be constructed this year.”

“To improve education in backward areas, 21 model schools and a similar number of girls’ hostels would be constructed in educationally backward regions of the state,” said Bains.

State schools have welcomed the Punjab government’s decision.

“We are facing a crunch of teachers for the last few years. There are many schools in our district where primary teachers are teaching higher classes that automatically meant poor results,” said a school principal in Mohali district, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“Now we hope that this mass recruitment will certainly solve this widespread problem in the government schools of Punjab,” he pointed out.