Teachers put on poll duties unable to focus on students

Teachers in government schools are sore over daily directions issued by the authorities to perform poll duties, instead of focusing on teaching students.

Highly placed sources in the Education Department (primary) revealed that about 1,200 government school teachers out of around 4,200 are put on election duties in Ludhiana by the district administration.

“On Wednesday, five teachers from a particular school were suspended for a few hours as they refused to join the election duties. But the suspension orders were revoked by the evening when it was conveyed that the teachers will perform duties for the upcoming elections,” said one of the teachers at a government school here.

Every time when the Chief Minister visits the schools, he always makes an announcement that teachers will not be asked to perform any other duty, except teaching and other related works. But in every elections, the teachers are the first ones to be called upon to assign duties.

The Democratic Teachers Front have already condemned the Sikhiya Kranti campaign of the AAP government. The teachers maintained that they were asked to do all kinds of works, except regular teaching, due to which government schools were suffering.

They said the district was bound to suffer in the enrolment process as 30-40 per cent of the teachers were put on the election duties.