Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI: The Department of School Education, Assam, has issued an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) to resolve the issues related to upgrading the most senior assistant teachers to the positions of head teachers in lower primary schools.
The SOP spells out that:
(i) Seniority Calculation: The school-wise seniority of teachers will be considered for upgradation to the post of head teacher.
(ii) Appointment Date for SRD (Special Recruitment Drive) teachers: Teachers recruited under the SRD will have their seniority counted from the date of their new appointment under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Elementary Education, Assam.
(iii) Exclusion of contractual service: The contractual period of SRD teachers will not be considered for seniority.
(iv) Resignation undertaking for CRCCS: Teachers serving as Cluster Resource Centre Coordinators (CRCCs), who are selected as the senior-most teachers of a school, must submit an undertaking of resignation from their CRCC role.
(v) Interim Head Teacher Arrangements: The District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO)/District Inspector of Schools (DIS) will appoint an in-charge head teacher in schools that lack a regular head teacher.
(vi) Upgradation of SRD-appointed senior-most teachers: If a school has no regular teacher, and the SRD-appointed teacher is the senior-most, they will be upgraded to the post of head teacher, and their previous position will be automatically abolished.
(vii) Seniority in merged lower primary schools: In cases where two lower primary schools are merged, the senior master teacher from the school with the higher student enrolment will be proposed for upgradation.
The seniority of teachers from the school with lower enrolment will only be considered for transfer or rationalisation purposes.
(viii) Tie-breaking criteria for seniority: If multiple teachers have the same date of joining, seniority will be determined based on age (older teacher gets preference).
(ix) Teachers not eligible for upgradation: Accommodation/provincialized tutors will not be considered for the head teacher position.
(x) Declining the head teacher position: If the senior-most teacher declines the position of head teacher, the next eligible teacher will be considered, subject to submission of a no-objection certificate (NOC) to the appropriate authority.
(xi) Seniority calculation for provincialised teachers: The service of provincialised teachers will be counted from the date of provincialisation of their services.
(xii) Responsibility division in merged/amalgamated schools: In cases where two schools have merged or amalgamated:
(a) The senior head teacher will manage financial matters.
(b) The junior head teacher will oversee academic matters.
(c) Seniority will be determined based on age, tenure, and qualifications.
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