Govt sets aside fund for unaided school teachers

Allahabad: The state government has made a provision of Rs 200 crore to be distributed to teachers of 19,000 non-government secondary schools affiliated to Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board) as wages for this year. However, the board is yet to come out with a plan to decide the mode of distribution of funds.
The directorate, secondary education, is responsible for keeping data of schools, teachers and the amount that each of them is entitled to receive.It is also responsible for distribution of allocated funds among the teachers.
However, the directorate, instead of approaching the finance controller, has asked teachers' unions and MLCs to give an account of the amount outstanding and process of release of funds to teachers. The directorate has also asked them to given an account of the eligibility criteria of allocation of wages to teachers.
Director, education (secondary), Amarnath Verma, has sought suggestions from regional president, UP Vittvihin Shikshak Mahasabha, Ramveer Singh, regional president, Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh (Vittvihin) and MLC Om Prakash Sharma, MLC Chet Narayan Singh and MLC Umesh Dwidevi.
Verma said, "The state government has made a provision for allocation of the said fund and there is no criteria for its distribution so suggestions have been invited from leaders." One of the biggest teachers' unions, Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh (Thakurai faction) which had boycotted the class 10 and 12 evaluation this year, has expressed resentment over the inviting leaders for allocation of fund in place of adopting the norms.Union's state general secretary Lalmani Dwivedi said, "The directorate has, in place of taking departmental route, invited leaders for deciding the fate of over two lakh teachers of 19,000 unaided schools. The education department is acting on its own," said Dwivedi.