The Haryana government has decided to take to task principals and teachers of schools that have a passing ratio of 0-5% by filing a charge sheet against them.

At least 322 principals and teachers working in government schools are expected to be charge-sheeted for the poor performance of Class X and XII students in a semester examination conducted by the Haryana Board of School Education.

"This action is meant to terrorise teachers. The government can take any action, but it first needs to find teachers to fill the 50,000 vacancies in government schools," Wazir Singh, vice-president of Haryana Vidyalaya Adhyapak Sangh, told Times of India (TOI).

Singh said this is the government's way to saffronise education in the state.

In January 2015, the Haryana education minister's decision to include the "Bhagwat Gita" into the school curriculum had courted controversy.

The results from the semester exams indicate a mediocre performance by secondary and higher secondary students in the state. Only 35.24% students in Class X and 56.75% students in Class XII passed the examination.

Strict action is being initiated against principals and teachers of schools where the passing ratio was between 0% and 5%.

On 23 January, 162 academicians of the 322 marked by the state education department will be issued a charge sheet. Decision about the other 160 will be taken at a later date.

"We are concerned about the standard of education in the state," Haryana's Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma told TOI.

An inquiry will also be conducted into the matter and recommendation for further improvement will be sought.