Ludhiana teachers seek exemption from poll duty

The union leaders demanded immediate withdrawal of the letter issued to them by the education secretary in this regard

The district teachers’ unions are up in arms against the education department for assigning election duties to teachers, post-school hours.

Teachers are up in arms against the education department for assigning election duties to them post-school hours (Representative photo)

Criticizing the move, Tahal Singh Sarabha, press secretary of Government Schools’ Teacher Union, said, “The teachers can’t fulfill their election duties after school hours. They have to look after their families also. They were appointed for teaching purposes, not for non-teaching.”

He further said that Krishan Kumar, secretary of school education, Punjab, had asked the local education department officials to not let teachers go for data collection of the voters during school hours.

With the election commission of India gearing up for the upcoming elections in the state, it has appointed booth-level officers for the poll duties. The booth-level officers posted at various polling stations have been asked to do door-to-door surveys in their respective areas.

“DEO Lakhvir Singh Samra has directed the teachers to do their election duty. At the same time, he has asked them to adhere to the directions of the education secretary, according to which they can’t do any poll-related work during school hours. Therefore, teachers will have to work post-school hours, which is not feasible,” said Surinder Kumar Puari, state secretary, Government School Teachers’ Union, Punjab.

Tahal Singh said that the teachers should not be assigned poll duty as they are busy preparing the students for the National Achievement Survey to be conducted on November 12. Giving them an additional duty will affect students’ education, he added.

“If Krishan Kumar is so serious about education, he should contact the election commission of India and get all teachers exempted from poll duty,” he added.

Singh added that the teacher unions will meet on Friday to decide the next course of action in case their demands are not fulfilled.

Despite repeated attempts, the DEO remained unavailable for comment.