Headmaster outsources job

''A man severe he was, and stern to view, I knew him well and every truant knew.''

These lines by 18th century English poet Oliver Goldsmith describing the qualities of a village school teacher, certainly do not apply to Mayur Jain, headmaster of a government-run school in Bareilly.

Jain gave his job to another person, while he continued to be on the payroll. He allegedly gave his job to a youth, Prem Pal, from Dhakia village at a salary of Rs 3,000 per month.

Pal has been working as the headmaster for the last couple of months, according to villagers. Jain, meanwhile, visits the school once or twice a month to mark attendance, police said. Even the students say they rarely see their Jain.

It is a profitable method for Jain. He has been drawing a hefty salary and has been parting with just a meager portion of it, said police. He has managed to free himself of his duties by letting somebody else do his job, police added.

In a recent report by an NGO, a large number of teachers are absent from schools in UP. Absenteeism has been rising over the years and 19 per cent of primary school teachers were not present for duty when the survey was conducted in 2010.

Some months ago, the UP government had dismissed 295 primary school teachers. The teachers were found absent for over a year, yet they were drawing salaries. Over 100 teachers were issued notices for remaining absent for months.

Education department officials say taking leave from duty for an unreasonably long time is not possible without connivance of bureaucrats in the education department.

Recently, UP minister Chandradeo Ram Yadav, who was headmaster of a school, was found to have been drawing the salary of the headmaster for the last five years. He agreed to refund his salary after the Lokayukta indicted him.