Deputing teachers

School teachers are sometimes deputed to other departments for non-taching work. It has been observed that most of these teachers continue to remain deputed to these departments for long. No serious effort is being made to detach the teachers and send them back to schools for teaching. Even a number of teachers are assigned the non-teaching work in School Education Department too, and they work at various offices of the department. Non-availability of the teachers at their actual places of posting (schools) does affect the very purpose for which they have been appointed. The purpose is to teach the students in government schools.

There is already shortage of teachers in a number of government schools. At some places only a few teachers have to manage the primary and middle level schools. That way the students are not taught the way they should have been. Subsequently, it affects their studies and later their performance in examinations. Teachers must be available in all the government schools in the required strength. Those deputed to other departments must be recalled so that they join their original places of posting. Same should be done in the case of the teachers in School Education Department who have been given non-teaching roles.

Reports say sometimes orders are being issued for the detachment of teachers from other departments but the orders are not implemented. At times there is no coordination between the School Education Department and the departments where the teachers have been deputed for non-teaching work. Sometimes orders in the two department regarding the deputed teachers clash with each other. There must be a clear cut policy for settling the problem.

The teachers must not be given non- teaching roles in other departments. Their job must remain confined to teaching in schools. That way the functioning of the schools will not get affected. All efforts must be made to solve the problem of shortage of teachers in government schools. There are reports that some schools have more than the required number of teachers, while other schools are not having the teachers in required number. This issue too has to be taken care of. The students in government schools must not be made to suffer due to non-availability of teachers.