Dhiman stresses on quality education in HP

Una, Mar 16 (UNI) Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Ishwar Dass Dhiman today claimed that the state government will take all steps necessary to provide quality education to the students instead of increasing the number of educational institutions in the state.

Addressing a press conference here, he accused the previous Congress Government of opening schools and colleges without providing for land, building or staff and adequate budgetary allocation.

Mr Dhiman admitted that as on date the education being imparted lacked quality, saying during the previous Congress Government's tenure neither new teaching posts were created nor any financial approval made in the education sector.

While twenty new colleges were opened, seven private colleges were taken over by the government just to gain cheap publicity, he added.

He said incidents of copying during board examinations this time was minimal because of effective monitoring and inspections by the HP Board of School Education (HPBSE).

"It is a matter of grave concern that some insiders, namely teachers, had become professionals in the copying and cheating business. These people will be identified and dealt with accordingly," he said.

The Education Minister said use of mobiles in schools had been banned and directions issued to the school authorities not to make students queue up for the political leaders.

Referring to 6,806 teachers recruited by the previous government through Parent Teacher Association, he said preliminary inquiry reports have revealed that while some of them were "meritorious selections", others were based on "political considerations". He said such cases have also come to the light where a regular teacher was relieved of his duties in the evening to pave the way for recruitment by the PTA next morning.

Mr Dhiman said the recruitment of each PTA teacher was being scrutinized and they would be given opportunities to get selected through Public Service Commission or batch-wise selection.

He said a science college in the private sector was in the offing and would cater to the educational needs of the scientific, industrial and hydel units being set up in the state.

Later, the Una district unit of the HP Government Teachers Union and TGT Teachers Association also met Mr Dhiman and submitted a memorandum regarding their long pending demands.

The minister promised that the teacher's demands would be reviewed sympathetically.

UNI XC AS PS VN1555