Aspirants flay Punjab govt for ‘abruptly aborting’ recruitment for school principals, headmasters

“The recruitment process, launched in March 2020 by the Department of School Education through the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), aimed to infuse the school system with dynamic and capable leadership. The written examination, conducted on December 6, 2020, was widely regarded as demanding — on par with the Punjab Civil Services (PCS) exam — and attracted applications from dedicated educators from across the state. However, the process was abruptly halted, following a civil writ petition. Since then, the matter has languished in legal limbo, largely due to the government’s apparent lack of initiative. State-appointed counsel repeatedly sought adjournments without making substantial progress or presenting a coherent argument in the court. Despite a court directive to submit the sealed exam results, they were never opened — an emblem of the state’s prolonged administrative inertia,” Sodhi said in the press statement.

“After nearly half a decade of uncertainty, the department’s recent instruction to PPSC to scrap the posts altogether has left aspirants stunned. The justification cited: a casual remark by the Advocate General of Punjab regarding ‘genuine resentment among cadre’ — an informal and ambiguous rationale that raises more questions than it answers,” he said.

“The sudden rollback of this fair and transparent selection process is being seen as a capitulation to entrenched interests resistant to merit-based reforms. For many candidates, the cancellation is not merely a missed opportunity but a crushing blow after years of patient waiting and sustained hope,” said the statement.

“This is not just about jobs,” said Harinder Singh, another aspirant. “It’s about integrity, merit and the credibility of institutions. We went through a tough selection process and waited years only to have the opportunity taken away without valid justification.”