65% teachers in Faridabad district on poll duty, academic work takes a hit

Bijendra Ahlawat

Faridabad, July 10

Over 65 per cent teachers of government primary schools in Faridabad district have been engaged in election-related duties. This has adversely affected the teaching work in a majority of the schools, it is alleged.

As several teachers of government schools, including Model Sanskriti Schools, have been assigned the work of Booth Level Officer (BLO) for updating the voters’ list for the upcoming state Assembly elections, it has affected the academic schedule as most of the teachers remain unavailable for classroom teaching, claim sources in the Education Department.

It is alleged that over 65 per cent of the teaching staff of government primary schools have been assigned the non-academic duties. The district has around 235 primary schools with a strength of 50,000 students.

“Engagement of teachers in non- teaching assignments has been a cause for concern as it not only hinders the teaching work, but also leads to teaching staff spending their time and energy on work not related to their field,” said a teacher on the condition of anonymity.

Claiming that it has also led to decrease in the strength of students in primary schools over the years, as the parents prefer private schools in view of such problems, he said adding that teachers are unable to complete the syllabus and provide revision work in time. Teaching work of over two months has already been lost this year in the wake of the recent Lok Sabha elections, it is claimed.

“With the assignment of BLO’s work to teachers, they are unable to give time to the teaching work for most part of the academic session,” says Chatar Singh, president, district unit, Haryana Primary Teachers Association. He said the teachers needed to be spared from the non-academic duties if the quality of education in government schools was to be improved.

“The non-academic work, which includes field visits and door-to-door surveys, has been a hurdle in completing the academic course in time,” says Raghu Vats, a member of the teachers association. He said while the schools are already facing shortage of teaching staff, the loss of classroom studies was a major concern.

Ashok Kumar, DEO, said poll-related work is assigned to teachers as a part of the policy of the state government.