Spare a thought for govt school teachers in B'luru Rural dist

It seems there is no end to the ordeal of government school teachers in Bengaluru Rural district. After the recent caste census and gram panchayat election duty, they have now received a circular that they have been deputed on election duty for the upcoming BBMP polls.

Add to it, the teachers are also busy co-ordinating various competitions and rehearsals for the Independence Day celebrations, this Saturday.

More than 1000 teachers have been roped in for poll duties from the government schools in Nelamangala, Doddaballapur, Devanahalli and Hosakote taluks. According to the information provided by the Education department, around 380 teachers from Hosakote, 600 teachers from Nelamangala, 430 teachers from Doddaballapur and 300 teachers from Devanahalli have been deputed on the poll duty.

The Education department officials of the aforementioned taluks would certainly find it tough to manage a few government schools when most of teachers report to election duty.

 “There are many schools with just one or two teachers and if they are put on election duty, there will be no one to look after the schools. On Wednesday, teachers will have to go to Bengaluru to attend a meeting in connection with the BBMP polls and we are not surprised if the schools have to be shut down on Wednesday,” an Education department official from Hosakote told Deccan Herald.

In April and May, the government school teachers were deputed on caste census and mid-day meals work. The school reopened in May and even as they were preparing for the new academic year, they were drafted for gram panchayat election work. Now, they are assigned the BBMP polls forced to take time away for BBMP elections.

Education takes backseat
Mohana Kumar, a teacher from Hosakote said, “We have been doing more of non-academic work than taking lessons to the students, these days. Also, when the Education department officials visit the schools for inspection, they shout at us for not teaching the children properly and not maintaining school records. How can they even expect us to do so much work when they keep assigning non-academic works? No wonder the government schools are shutting down and if this continues, there will be a day when the government schools will be non-existent.”

“Apart from election duties, there are numerous other meetings and training programmes which we have to attend. During the meetings, we are asked to implement the points which they discuss in the training programme. But where do we get the time to implement such things and teach the kids,” questioned Pankajakshi, another teacher from the a government school in Doddaballapur.

A block education officer on the condition of anonymity told Deccan Herald,  “It is not fair to assign election duty to the teachers. But it is a decision taken by the senior officials. We have no say in this and it cannot be opposed nor questioned.”