Education Department Issues Detailed Guidelines To Check Physical Harassment And Emotional Torture Of Lady Teachers-Maluka
5 Dariya News
Chandigarh 07-Dec-2012
The Education department has issued detailed guidelines to all schools and District Education Officers to take preemptive steps to check physical harassment or emotional torture of teachers working in various schools especially in remote rural areas.Mr. Sikander Singh Maluka, Education Minister said that the department has issued a detailed circular, as in the education department large number of female teachers have to work in schools located in remote rural areas especially as single teacher in primary schools. He said that it becomes our added responsibility to check physical harassment or emotional torture of such teachers and such incidents have to be tackled with iron hand. Instructions have been issued that in remote rural villages efforts should be made not to post lady teachers in such schools and priority should be give to male teachers for such postings. He said that if in a village primary school, single lady teacher was posted, it should be located in Aanganwari Center and if such schools were away from Aanganwari Centers, village Panchayat should be requested to shift the school to a suitable location. The instructions have said that lady teacher should not be asked to sit in the office in the odd hours before or after school timings for filling reports. It has been suggested that it should be ensured that no single lady teacher be posted in such school where all male teachers were working. It should also be ensured that members of management committees or panchayats do not pass any objectionable comments on lady teachers and at the time of time of closing of school principal and school management would exercise vigil that outside youth did not harass lady teachers by passing comments.The Education Minister said that it has been noticed that Block Resource Person or District Resource Persons do harass lady teachers during their inspections. He said that whenever BRP or DRP visits a school, he should be made to sign on visitor book otherwise it would be considered that he had visited the school with objectionable intent. Advising lady teachers to immediate report any case of physical or mental assault to respective inspection team, block primary officer, District Education Officer or headquarter and in no case such acts should be tolerated. He said that tolerating such acts would further boost the morale such elements. Director General School Education, Mr. Kahan Singh Pannu, said that all Block Primary Education Officers have been asked to appoint one lady as nodal officer, who would listen to the grievances of lady teachers and note these plaints on register. After getting such complaints of physical or mental harassment, she would reported to DEO or DGSE on email and a five member committee would be constituted with minimum three lady members to probe such complaints. The office of DGSE has already a sexual harassment committee. The DGSE advised BPEOs and DEOs to report such cases with police and get such elements arrested immediately. The instructions have given details of various sections of IPC that could be invoked according to the facts of the case. All schools and authorities have been instructed to ensure compliance of these instructions so that no lady teacher could be victimized physically or mentally.