Demotion of Officiating Principal

Dr A K Pandey was Principal of Maheshwari Public School (MPS) from 01.12.1998 to 30.06.2005. Maheshwari Public School promoted by Shn Maheshwari Samaj was established in July 1977 in Jawahar Nagar area of Jaipur. It is affiliated to CBSE and it is also an accredited institute of National Institution of Open Schooling. The school has currently student strength of 3000 and teacher strength of 165. In +2 stream, it offers both Science and Commerce streams. The school campus is of 11,400 square yard with a carpet area of 1.25 sq. ft. There are altogether 62 sections with classes from I to XII. Well-equipped Physics, Chemistry and Biology labs are established. The school has also installed closed circuit television (CCTV) so that Principal sitting in his/her room can find out what’s happening in which classes. Similarly a 2-way public address system to address one/more/all rooms has been installed.

In his last assignment as Education Director of Hermann Gmeiner Schools, Faridabad, Dr Pandey had taken interest to popularize information technology (IT). Though he does not consider himself as an IT expert, he has still acquired some basic skills in IT through his personal efforts. He is fond of e-mailing and loves to be in touch with his old students and friends through e-mails. He can also word process a document without any external effort, and his current passion is to learn PowerPoint presentation well. MPS was also the first school in Rajasthan to implement Bharatiyavidya; a computer based teaching (CBT) aid with a large screen TV. The school had invested quite a bit in setting up a good IT infrastructure.

During the tenure of Dr Pandey, MPS has become the first choice for admission for the parents of Jaipur. MPS is regarded as the most disciplined school of Jaipur amongst the 43 other CBSE affiliated schools at Jaipur. It is the only Boys school in town. The result has been exemplary and a constant increase was shown. The selection in professional courses like ITT-JEE, AIEEE, CPMT, AIMS were really worth to mention. Only during 2001 the IT & I rank in AIMS, 12 selections in CPMT and 21 in IIT-JEE speaks the standard of the school.

MPS, as stated earlier, is a society run school. The Management changes after every three years. During the tenure of one of the Secretary, Mr. G. D. Mundra, the relation of Dr. Pandey got stannous on the ground of admission of students who did worst in the admission test and it became a prestige issue of Mr. Mundra. Dr. Pandey with his friends in the Maheshwari Samaj tried to bring the situation under control but it went worst as Mr. Mundra was working on his own agenda of making Ms. Neelam Wallia, Vice Principal (Primary) as Principal.

Ms. Neelam Wallia, a Post-Graduate in History joined MPS 16 years back as TGT (Trained Graduate Teacher) to teach Social Sciences. She was promoted as Vice Principal (Primary) by Mr. Mundra 6 years back ignoring 18 PGTs (Post Graduate Teachers). The organizational structure of MPS did not digest this and it has always been burming topic for discussion amongst the member of Sri Maheshwari Samaj. During the tenure of Dr Pandey, she was Head Examiner for class X of Social Science and was punished by Central Board of Secondary Education for wrong evaluation in her subject and Dr. Pandey reported the matter to Mr. Mundra also. Irrespective of all these, Mr. Mundra made a lobby of teachers against Dr. Pandey under the leadership of Ms. Neelam Wallia. As Dr. Pandey happened to enjoy the respect of Maheshwari Samaj People as a strict administrator doing good for the Institution, Mr. Mundra came down at the level of character assassination of Dr. Pandey with the group under Ms. Wallia. The matter was going worst and worst day-by-day. Dr. Pandey resigned on 30" June 2005 with a settlement of getting one-year full salary (nearly 4 lacks) and his genuine dues. On the next day Dr. Pandey joined another school having same reputation in Jaipur only on the same pay & perks what he was getting at MPS.

Mr. Mundra made Ms. Wallia an Officiating Principal with a promise to regularize her in the same post. In September 2005 in the Maheshwari Samaj election Mr. Mundra got defeated and Mr. Ram Awater Ajmera, a veteran educationist became the Secretary of MPS. He knew the administrative capability of Dr. Pandey as Dr. Pandey has worked under him for three years during his previous tenure. During that tenure, Dr. Pandey was so close to Mr. Mundra that his relation with Mr. Ajmera was not worth. During these six months the condition of MPS became worst. Being a society school even a smallest happening used to be reported to the Management.

Seeing all these happenings, Dr. Pandey approached Mr. Ram Awater Ajmera for reappointment thinking that in case he gets a chance, he will be able to settle his scores with Mr. Mundra and the group who connived against him. During his tenure as Principal of MPS, Dr. Pandey was instrumental in setting Maheshwari Girls Public School at Vidyadhar Nagar with a grand success. In the very first year with incomplete school building, 2000 girls appeared for the admission test, which was a history in the education scenario of Jaipur. Maheshwari Samaj, Jaipur was allotted another piece of land at Pratap Nagar for a new school. Dr. Pandey also brought this matter to Mr. Ajmera telling him that he will again repeat the history if given a reappointment at MPS. Financially, Dr Pandey was better off with his new assignment as he started his Consultancy Services, which was doing good business, but he was unable to forget his unceromonial removal from MPS. Mr. Ram Awater Ajmera did not give him the chance and a new Principal was appointed.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:

1. Can you describe the case by applying SWOT analysis of Dr. A.K.Pandey?
2. Was the decision of Mr. G. D. Mundra of removing Dr. A.K.Pandey and appointing Ms. Neelam Wallia at his place in the interest of Maheshwari Samaj? Was the decision of Mr. Ram Awater Ajmera of not reappointing Dr A.K.Pandey in the interest of Maheshwari Public School?
3. Will you suggest Dr A. K. Pandey to rejoin Maheshwari Public School again?
4. Why Ms. Neelam Wallia was not in a position to run Maheshwari Public School according to its previous history?
5. Mention the five priorities of the new Principal.