‘Not accorded welcome at school’: Offended AAP MLA complains to Punjab Speaker; teachers summoned to Chandigarh

The teachers travelled to Chandigarh on Tuesday but were told that the Speaker was occupied. They were summoned again on Wednesday but were informed by phone that the meeting would be rescheduled.

Speaking to The Indian Express, the head teacher of the school said two male teachers had met the MLA during his visit, while the three female teachers, who have now been summoned, were teaching in their classrooms at the time of the MLA’s inspection on September 17.

The order, issued by the deputy secretary, school education, Punjab, states that, according to the MLA’s complaint, he visited the government primary school in Gondara village on September 17, when head teacher Harwinder Singh was absent, and three other teachers—Paramjit Kaur, Kulwinder Kaur, and Geeta Rani—were on duty.

“However, these teachers did not come out of their classrooms and they did not receive me,” the MLA’s complaint reads. The order further states that the Speaker has taken strict notice of the complaint and summoned the teachers to his office to present their explanations.

Harwinder Singh, the head teacher, reiterated that the three female teachers were simply doing their jobs when the MLA arrived. “I had taken half-day leave that day, so I wasn’t present when the MLA arrived. Two male teachers met him, while the three female teachers were teaching in the classrooms. We don’t understand why this complaint was made. We met the MLA again yesterday and explained the situation. It seems there was a misunderstanding, but two of our teachers did meet him. We had no intention of ignoring him; they were just teaching,” the head teacher said.

Speaking to The Indian Express, one of the woman teachers, said that she was managing her classroom, when the MLA arrived. “Apart from two male teachers, many villagers were present on the campus to welcome the MLA. We (three woman teachers) decided to handle children in classrooms. We also arranged tea and snacks. However, later the MLA came into the classrooms and asked why we did not come outside for his swagat (welcome). We told him that we remained in classrooms as students are too young and cannot be left alone. That time he did not say anything. We got to know that a complaint has been filed against us after we received the summoning order two days ago,” said the teacher.

When reached for comment, MLA Amolak Singh said: “The matter has been resolved. Maybe the teachers were under stress; it’s part of their profession. They apologised, so the issue is closed. I had informed the Speaker so he could ask for an explanation about their behaviour.” When asked about the specifics of the issue, he said: “I don’t wish to comment further.”

Speaker Sandhwan said: “I summoned the teachers for an explanation based on the MLA’s complaint. I wanted to hear their side of the story. Yesterday, I couldn’t meet them, so the meeting would be rescheduled.”

“This order paints a sad picture, where teachers are now expected to leave their classrooms to welcome politicians. Two male teachers met the MLA, while the others were teaching in classrooms,” said Gagandeep Pahwa, district head of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), Faridkot.