E-Paper
Ludhiana teachers stuck juggling election and school duties
Members of the academic staff alleged that the enrolment drive for the new academic session was being affected due to the absence of teachers at schools, which are already reeling under staff crunch
Election duty has pushed government schools teachers and principals, already facing the brunt of staff crunch, into a deeper abyss. According to the information, faculty members are expected to perform their election duties and check on private schools to ensure compliance with education department’s guidelines, all while carrying out their usual academic duties.
Members of the academic staff alleged that the enrolment drive for the new academic session was being affected due to the absence of teachers at schools, which are already reeling under staff crunch.
A principal of a senior secondary school said, “We have only one computer faculty in and even he has been sent off to election duty for the past one-and-a-half months. How can one expect quality education with such a workload?”
The principal also mentioned that seven teams headed by government school principals have been formed to carry out checks at private schools across the district inorder to ensure their compliance with the education department’s guidelines.
“We already are a team of three people only, of which even if one is on the election duty, it affects the checking conducted in the private schools,” he added.
Another principal whose school has a strength of nearly 33 teachers, of which 15 are away on election duty, said, “It is hard to manage classes, enrolments and the checking of the private schools, simultaneously. We are allotting enrolment duties on rotation for the new academic session and in my absence, the vice-principal of the school is in charge as I am hardly present in the school now.”
The principal also mentioned that they have been forced to club classes amid the absence of ample teachers.
Commenting on the strength required for the smooth conduction of elections, deputy commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said, “The administration needs nearly 16,000 people to ensure the smooth conduction of the elections and we do not have separate staff for the same.”
“Not only teachers, government employees from all the departments have been deployed apart from the ones maintaining essential services. We also would never want the studies getting affected, due to which the district education officer has been authorised to replace a teacher who is required in the school, with another one. Principals can always approach DEO in case they feel that the classes are being hampered due to the absence of a certain teacher,” she added.
She further revealed that around 30 teachers in the district have been replaced upon request so far.
