Not 365, Punjab Education department's calendar has 372 days/year!
What seems like an error done in a hurry, Punjab Education department has rolled out a calendar with 372 days instead of 365. A thousand calendars were released with 31 days in February, April, June, September and November, five days ago. However, the officials said that the error occurred at the printing press and the department is planning to recall them all.
The department has recalled the calendars, now probing the matter
After the error came under spotlight, Krishan Kumar, Punjab school education secretary said, "We have already recalled the misprinted calendars, are probing the matter." The calendar, released under the 'Samagra Shiksha Abhiyaan', can be seen on the walls of many private and government schools in Mansa district, Punjab. Rajinder Kaur, Mansa district education officer, also said that the printing press committed the errors.
What is Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan?
As per the official website of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, proposed in Union Budget 2018-2019, "The vision of the Scheme is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education from pre-school to senior secondary stage in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for Education."
Wastage of money, should be used for student welfare: AAP-MLA
In light of the upcoming polls, the error was quickly picked up by the Opposition. Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Budhlada (Punjab), Budh Ram, said, "This is a wastage of money which should be used for the welfare of students. The department should probe the slip-up and fix the responsibility of officials." Also, the calendar seems to violate the Model Code of Conduct.
Calendar highlights government schemes, violates MCC, says teachers' union
Teacher union leaders including Hardeep Sidhu, Karamjit Singh Tamkot and Narinder Singh Makha said the calendars were released in a hurry probably for the general elections. And since it highlights the government schemes and projects, it violates the Model Code of Conduct, they pointed out.
Model Code of Conduct allows no advertisements on government property
Model Code of Conduct is a set of guidelines issued by the Election Commission to keep a check on the political parties in the run-up to the elections and comes into effect after the announcement of the elections' dates. Political parties can't advertise using government's money on any public property like train, airplane and government infrastructure. Also, any public undertaking can't bear endorsement for parties.
