Mohali: Despite the continuous efforts of the Government School Lecturers Union Punjab, the department has failed to fill approximately 1100 vacant posts of Principals in Government Senior Secondary Schools through promotions. The promotion cell created to expedite the promotion process has proven to be a white elephant. The performance of the promotion cell of the Director School Education Punjab has been unsatisfactory.
After Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains and Education Secretary Mrs. Anindita Mitra amended the Education Rules 2018, increasing the promotion quota to 75% and the direct recruitment quota to 25%, the hopes of promotion for Senior Lecturers, Vocational Lecturers, and Head Teachers have not been fulfilled due to the poor performance of the promotion cell.
Four months were wasted in court proceedings, which directly impacted the education revolution, poor students, and experienced lecturers and vocational lecturers. On March 31, 2026, approximately 100 more lecturers will retire after 25 years of service.
The shortage of teachers will have a clear impact on the education of students, delays in education board results, student admissions in government schools, and a decrease in the number of students in schools.
Balraj Singh Bajwa, General Secretary, and Ravinderpal Singh Bains, Joint Secretary of the Government School Lecturers Union Punjab, stated that five vacant Deputy Director posts at the Head Office remain unfilled, and eligible officers are retiring while waiting for their promotions, depriving the department of the services of senior experienced officers. The vacant Deputy Director posts at the Head Office should be filled by promoting eligible officers.
Sanjeev Kumar, President, and Ranbir Singh Sohal, State Press Secretary of the Government School Lecturers Union Punjab, demanded that the withheld allowances and DA installments be released. The Finance Minister stated that the government's financial position is sound, but the failure to release the DA installments contradicts these claims. 
The provincial leaders of the Government School Lecturers Union Punjab have appealed to Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains, Education Secretary Anindita Mitra, and Director School Education Punjab to expedite the process of filling the vacant posts of Deputy Directors at the head office and Principals in government senior secondary schools through promotions by effectively pursuing the case in court. This, they believe, will help increase new admissions in the upcoming academic session.
Those present at the meeting included the organization's chief advisor Sukhdev Singh Rana, Jagtar Singh Saido Ke, Aman Sharma, Dilbag Singh, Nayab Singh, Jaspal Singh Walia, Baldeesh Kumar, Kuldeep Grover, Kaushal Kumar, Lakhvir Singh, Ramveer Singh, and Avtar Singh Dhanoa.