Teachers in Patiala assigned ration-card verification duties seek exemption
Claim that such non-academic assignments is adversely affecting teaching in government schools
The Democratic Teachers Front (DTF) has urged the district administration of Patiala to immediately withdraw duties assigned to teachers for ration-card verification, claiming that such non-academic assignments were adversely affecting teaching in government schools.
A DTF delegation led by district president Dr Ram Sharan Aloharan met Patiala ADC Anupreet Johal and demanded withdrawal of the list of 279 employees issued by the SDM office on September 1. The list includes around 66 teachers who have been assigned ration-card verification duties.
Dr Aloharan, district secretary, Jaspal Chaudhary, finance secretary, and Rajinder Samana said despite the state government’s claims of making improvement in education a priority, teachers were being increasingly burdened with non-academic duties.
They said teachers were already engaged in activities such as census-related work, Special Intensive Revision (SIR), drug surveys and preparation of health cards. Assigning them ration-card verification duties would further affect classroom teaching, particularly when schools were preparing for the September examinations, they said.
DTF activists Jagjit Jatana, Harinder Singh, Krishan Chuhanke and Pawan Kumar said teachers should be relieved of all non-academic duties so that they could focus on teaching and academic responsibilities.
