Election duties, early vacations hit work, say teachers

Davinder Singh Sidhu, district vice-president of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) said, “Government school teachers are managing everything except teaching.”

With temperatures dropping, the state government has already announced school holidays from December 24, however, teachers in government schools are unable to finalise and declare the bi-monthly exam results, as many were occupied with municipal corporation (MC) election duties.

Election duties and extra tasks have put teachers in a bind and PTM and bi-monthly exam results have been delayed. (HT Photo)

“The usual parent-teacher meeting (PTM) for December will not happen this month due to a lack of time,” said Tehal Singh Sarabha, secretary of the Government School Teachers’ Union, Punjab. He noted that over 50% of teaching staff were deployed for election duties. Sarabha also highlighted that teachers are now being pressured to generate APAAR IDs for students despite these requiring parental consent.

“Teachers are being burdened with non-teaching tasks. Earlier, PTMs were held in December to share exam results and feedback, but this time, both have been delayed,” added Sarabha. He further mentioned that the delay in PTMs and exam results has raised concerns about how students will utilise their winter break effectively, especially those preparing for board exams.

Davinder Singh Sidhu, district vice-president of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) said, “Government school teachers are managing everything except teaching. From election duties to the Competency Enhancement Plan (CEP), national school games, and educational fairs, these tasks have left no time to prepare results. If the results are not ready, how can they be shared with parents during PTMs?”

Daljit Singh Samrala, district president of the DTF, criticised the CEP programme, stating, “It was introduced to enhance learning for the PARAKH survey and overall student development, but it has disrupted the main curriculum. The teachers from various schools shared that the students in board classes have performed poorly in the bimonthly exams as their studies were neglected.”

District education officer (elementary) Ravinder Kaur clarified that no update on the PTM has been received from the state office. “Given the upcoming holidays, the PTM will likely be held in January,” she said.