Despite state education minister Harjot Bains’s clear directive to keep teachers away from non-teaching duties, the Punjab school education department has once again pulled them out of classrooms — this time in the middle of pre-board examinations — to conduct a door-to-door survey of dropout students across the state.
In a letter issued on January 19, the state project director of Punjab’s Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan directed all district and block education officers, along with school heads, to complete a house-to-house survey to identify out-of-school children aged between 3 and 19 years by January 30.
The survey is to cover villages, wards, surrounding hamlets, railway stations, bus stands and other vulnerable locations, including areas frequented by children from migrant families, nomadic tribes, construction workers, street dwellers, daily wagers, domestic helpers and ragpickers, among others, to encourage their enrolment in government schools.
The consolidated survey reports and certificates, duly verified by district education officers, must be submitted to the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan office by January 31, the letter states.
However, teachers have flagged concerns over the timing of the exercise, warning it will derail board examination preparations and doubt-clearing sessions for students who are already struggling to cope with the syllabus after the long winter break.
Dharamjeet Singh Dhillon, district president of the Lecturer Cadre Union, said the department had scheduled the survey at a time when students needed maximum academic support. He also pointed out that the letter does not clarify whether the survey will be conducted during or after school hours and added that many primary female teachers may not feel comfortable visiting vulnerable pockets.
{{/usCountry}}Dharamjeet Singh Dhillon, district president of the Lecturer Cadre Union, said the department had scheduled the survey at a time when students needed maximum academic support. He also pointed out that the letter does not clarify whether the survey will be conducted during or after school hours and added that many primary female teachers may not feel comfortable visiting vulnerable pockets.
{{/usCountry}}Daljit Singh Samrala, district president of the Democratic Teachers Front, said that despite promising ‘Sikhya Kranti’, the government continued to burden teachers with non-school work during exam days.
He added that after the long winter break, schools had barely reopened before seminars under ‘Mission Samrath’ and computer teachers’ training sessions were organised.
Pre-board examinations for Classes 8, 10 and 12 are already underway, leaving teachers torn between teaching and survey duties.
Samrala said the department should deploy dedicated staff for such exercises instead of engaging regular teachers.
Deputy district education officer Amandeep Singh said the surveys were part of an annual exercise to boost enrolment in government schools. “They will formally roll out on January 24 and only teachers who are free from classes during exam days will be deployed,” he said.