Board worried about mobile use by schoolteachers

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 20

Teachers of most government schools in Punjab are spending much time on social media from their mobile phones and the trend seems to have worried officials of the Punjab School Education Board sitting in Chandigarh and Mohali.

The Secretary of Education, Punjab, has shot off a letter (a copy of which is with The Tribune) to all District Education Officers and school heads of all government schools in the state and expressed shock over the blatant use of smart phones by schoolteachers. 

In the letter, it is stated that on August 18, 2017, all DEOs, principals and school heads of the state were told that schoolteachers should not spend time on the social media during school hours as it affected studies as also caused a bad effect on the minds of students.

"Despite issuing a warning earlier, it has been brought to our knowledge that schoolteachers are using mobile phones during the school hours, hence wasting their considerable time on the social media. They are not paying attention to studies. By this way, teachers are compromising with the values of teaching and setting a wrong precedent before students," the letter states.

The Secretary has mentioned that the school heads should give a warning to the teachers in writing and tell them not to use mobile phones during school hours. "Still, if teachers do not budge and continue to use mobile phones in classrooms, the school heads should immediately inform the office of district education officer or the head office," the letter says.

The letter has also been sent to the Director-General, School Education, Director Education Board and the Director SCERT.