LUCKNOW: Moving in a direction to reform the State’s education system, the Uttar Pradesh (UP) government is contemplating making Saturday a ‘no-bag’ day in all government primary and secondary schools.
On Saturdays, only co-curricular activities will be held in schools and students will be given a break from regular studies. The decision was taken at a high level meeting attended by additional chief secretary of Haryana government, PK Dass, and senior officers of the UP education department under the chairmanship of Deputy CM, Dr Dinesh Sharma, here on Friday.
Sharma, who also holds the portfolio of secondary education, said that this move would not only help strike a good relation between teachers and students, but would also lead to the child’s holistic development.
Dr Dinesh Sharma directed department officials to prepare a proposal within a week. It was also decided that all State government run boys secondary schools would be made ‘co-ed’, and girls would be eligible to take admission if need be. However, girls’ schools would retain their status.
The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to apply the education transfer policy framed on the pattern of the one implemented by the Haryana government. In the meeting, issues related to fee regularisation process of private schools and online redressal of teachers’ service problems were also discussed extensively.
In order to bring about a transparency in the education department’s functions and to make the office of district inspector of schools corruption free, the deputy CM said a formidable policy was being framed in Uttar Pradesh, under which teachers’ service details would be digitalised and a database would be prepared by a three member committee.
The Deputy CM also directed the principal secretary, education, not to deploy teachers for services other than census, natural calamity and elections.