Imphal, May 30: Pin pointing a number of factors for the mess in the Education Department, the report prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India for the financial year 2004-2005 clearly stated that the non-functioning of the internal control system of the Education Department is one of the primary reasons for the fake appointments in the department, transfer of teachers without getting the approval of the Government, misappropriation of funds and wrong withdrawal of GPF.

The report stated that due to the absence of an effective system to monitor the appointment of teachers, transfer of teachers and promotion in the Education Department there is rampant fake appointments and the practice of transferring District Council teachers to Government schools.

The Education Department also does not have a system of gradation or seniority list, said the report and added that there is no practice of new appointees reporting to the Head of Department.

There is also no system to monitor new recruitment and as such there is rampant fake appointment cases in the said department.

Nailing the department, the report said that though the Education Commissioner reported that 151 teachers have been appointed on the sly between January and February in 1999, the actual investigation into the said case began only in 2005.On May 21 last year, the Government issued an order granting extension of 9137 temporary posts from March 1, 2005 to February 28, 2006.However since the department could not provide the actual number of sanctioned posts vis-a-vis men-in-position, it made detection of fake appointments more difficult, the report maintained.

Following the transfer of 55 teachers from schools controlled by the Autonomous District Councils to Government schools a minimum expenditure of Rs 43.68 lakh per year was incurred by the State, added the report.

The School Education Director justified the transfer of the said teachers on the ground that there were vacancies in the Govt schools, said the report and added that the report of the Director was not acceptable as the reports submitted under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan said that there were excess teachers in the State vis-a-vis the teachers-students ratio.

The teachers-students ratio prescribed by the SSA is 1:40 and test checks in 42 schools of three districts, Churachandpur, Imphal East and Imphal West showed the teachers-students ratio as 1:12 as on March 2005.Taking this fact into account, the transfer of ADC teachers to Govt schools cannot be accepted, it said.

Moreover the transfer of teachers from ADC to Government schools was effected without the consent of the Government added the CAG report.

To strengthen the internal control mechanism of the Education Department, the CAG suggested preparing correct database of sanctioned posts, men-in-position and seniority list of each cadres and office/school under the department and instituting a system of monthly reports/returns to be submitted to the Govt by each school/Head of office on fresh appointments and transfers.

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