Chandigarh, August 25, 2025:- Government School Professors Union Punjab and Government School Professors Promotion Front Punjab organized a zoom meeting to discuss important issues concerning their members. The meeting was chaired by State President Mr. Sanjeev Kumar.
The meeting discussed in detail various burning issues related to the professor cadre, mainly the quota of promotion to the post of principal, errors in the seniority list, and challenges related to school management. The meeting is being seen as an important step towards resolving the problems being faced in the education structure of Punjab.
Addressing the meeting, Mr. Sanjeev Kumar said that the previous government had adopted unconstitutional and illogical policies to disrupt the process of promotion of professors as principals. He elaborated that before 2004 the promotion quota was 100%, which recognized the experience and service of the professors.
But in 2004, keeping in mind the requirements of the NABARD scheme, it was changed to 75% promotion and 25% direct recruitment. This change was made to provide leadership opportunities to experienced teachers in schools.
He further mentioned that students studying in senior secondary schools are in their teens, who need special guidance and leadership. Therefore, schools need the leadership of experienced and mature teachers, not persons with a business mindset.
Recognizing this need, the Education Department had given preference to professors and teachers with administrative experience in principal appointments, so that those running tuition centers and academies are kept away from it. This policy was to strengthen the development of students and the social role of schools.
But in 2018, the then Education Secretary, in the race for privatisation, violated the educational principles and changed the quota of promotion and direct recruitment to a ratio of 50:50. Also, the condition of experience was reduced from 7 years to 3 years. This harmed the public welfare agenda of school education and increased the trends of privatisation, commercialisation, and marketisation.
These changes were unconstitutional and unfair, which were challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The court, understanding their validity, issued stay orders, as these rules were made by ignoring the traditions.
The present Education Minister of Punjab Government, Sardar Harjot Singh Bains has announced amendments in these rules based on the suggestions of the professorial community and educationists. The process is underway, but it seems to be stuck in the department for a long time.
Shri Sanjeev Kumar urged the Minister to expedite this process keeping in mind the education of the students, school management, and the reputation of the schools in the society. He stressed that these changes are necessary in the interest of students and public interest.
Suba General Secretary Balraj Singh Bajwa informed that more than 50% of the principal posts are vacant in Punjab, due to which many schemes and agendas of the education department are getting affected. This is harming the education structure of Punjab and the education of students is getting badly affected. He demanded that the vacant posts should be filled soon so that regular management can be restored in the schools.
Suba General Secretary Mr. Ravinder Pal Singh and Chief Advisor Mr. Sukhdev Singh Rana pointed out that due to vacant posts, senior professors are running school management along with teaching their subject. They demanded that the experience of such professors should be recognized as administrative experience, so that they can get benefit in promotion. This demand is going to recognize the hard work of the professors and will help in smooth functioning in the schools.
Suba Press Secretary Mr. Ranbir Singh Sohal referred to the court's decision in the case of Harbhajan Singh vs State of Punjab in 2023. The court had ordered to prepare the seniority list of the master cadre in six months and revise the professor list in three months.
But even after two years, the professor list has been prepared only in a provisional form. It has many errors, such as double number allocation, not changing addresses, ignoring rules, and ignoring the service period of direct recruitment professors.
They demanded from the minister that all the errors should be removed before making the final list public. For this, a joint committee of expert professors and department representatives should be formed, and till then promotions should be done as per the 2015 list.
This zoom meeting was attended by leaders from various districts, who shared views on issues related to their areas. This meeting reflects the efforts of the union to bring reforms in the education sector of Punjab and motivates the government to take swift action. The union also announced to organize more such meetings in the future so that the rights of the professors can be strongly raised.