Teachers’ training: Sisodia requests L-G to return file

New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, has requested the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) to immediately return the file regarding a Finland-based training programme for teachers of Delhi government schools.

In a letter to the L-G, Manish Sisodia highlighted that the file had been lying on the L-G’s desk since January 20 without him taking any decision, and under the laws, the L-G cannot hold a file for more than 15 days. Despite this, the L-G has chosen to sit on the file for over a month now, which is unjustified, according to the Deputy Chief Minister.

The Deputy Chief Minister had sent a proposal to the L-G on January 20 for a Finland-based teacher training programme for Delhi govt school teachers, but the file had remained stuck in the L-G office since then.

The L-G had sent back the file under the pretext of clarifications to continue stalling the training program. When Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal reached the L-G with his ministers and MLAs to discuss this obstruction, there was an outright refusal by the L-G to meet them.

As per the Constitution and TBR rules, the time available with the L-G to present his views regarding the decision to send teachers to Finland has expired. Therefore, the Deputy

Chief Minister has requested the L-G to return the file immediately so that the government can implement its decision and send its teachers to Finland for training.

The first batch of government school teachers was scheduled to go to Finland in December 2022, but they could not go because of repeated objections raised by the L-G at that time. The next batch is due for March 2023, and the file has been pending in the L-G’s office for more than a month.

The government has examined the proposal, including a cost-benefit analysis, and found that the training program is essential to improve the quality of education in the national Capital. Therefore, the repeated objections raised by the L-G are unwarranted and are delaying the implementation of a crucial program that could benefit Delhi’s students.

The Deputy Chief Minister’s letter to the L-G also emphasised, “The decision of the Delhi government to send its teachers to Finland for training has attained finality. Therefore, the file must now be returned by the L-G so that we can start the process of sending our teachers abroad for training.”