Grant us 1-day break after Oct 21, teachers on poll duty tell EC

Teachers and non-teaching school staff members, who have been assigned work for the state Assembly polls slated this month, have asked the state election commission

Teachers and non-teaching school staff members, who have been assigned work for the state Assembly polls slated this month, have asked the state election commission to grant them a one-day break after the polls.

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In a recently submitted letter, the Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad, a body of teachers, requested the state election commission to grant them a holiday on October 22, a day after voting concludes in the state.

“Most teachers and non-teaching employees in schools across the state have got election duties. Those who have been appointed as presiding officers have to spend nearly two days for the entire process and can go home only late in the night on the day of polls. In such a situation, the government should declare a holiday on the next day,” reads the letter.

Most schools in the city have changed their exam timetables after the poll date was announced. According to the revised timetable, schools finish their first term exams by the second week of October.

Teachers said that they already have to juggle between school exam duties and election training.

“We are ready to manage both, but we just expect to get at least a day’s compensation for the efforts that we put in. Turning up at school the very next day [after the state Assembly election] becomes difficult for teachers as many of us travel from very far away and have to report to school in the first shift,” said Rajesh Pandya, a teacher at Fatimadevi High School in Malad.