Teachers in Punjab’s government schools are currently buckling under the burden of performing double and triple duties. On one hand, the Education Department is assigning teachers duties related to checking answer sheets for the Punjab School Education Board’s annual examinations; on the other, various administrative officials are deploying school teachers to execute duties related to various government schemes. Furthermore—and this is not all—election officials are repeatedly sending letters to schools, summoning numerous teachers to handle election-related tasks. The situation has reached such a critical point that the District Education Officer (DEO) was ultimately compelled to write to the Deputy Commissioner (DC), requesting that teachers assigned to marking centers for checking Board examination papers not be summoned for any other duties; failure to do so, the letter warned, could delay the examination process and, consequently, the declaration of results. A sort of “cold war” has thus erupted between the Education Department and the election officials within the district administration regarding the deployment of teachers.
DEO Requests DC to Restrain Returning Officers
District Education Officer (Secondary), Dimple Madan, has written to the Deputy Commissioner requesting that teachers be exempted from administrative and election-related duties. The DEO emphasized that the process of marking Board examination papers is strictly time-bound to ensure that results are declared on schedule and that the students’ upcoming academic session remains unaffected.
Many Teachers Abandon Teaching to Perform Clerical Work in Administrative Offices
Amidst this controversy, several school principals—speaking on the condition of anonymity—have made startling revelations. They disclosed that some teachers spend significantly less time at their schools throughout the year, serving instead primarily at the offices of the DC and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM). The school principals further alleged that the DC… The office possesses adequate clerical staff; however, as they are unwilling to perform the work, teachers are thrust into these duties—thereby jeopardizing the future of the students.
Questioning the Administration: ‘Why is Election Duty Assigned Exclusively to Teachers?’
Experts and school principals are raising the question: why, ultimately, are teachers the ones assigned duty for every task? At a time when schools are navigating a critical period—encompassing the marking of board examination papers, the student admission process, and the commencement of the new academic session—why is the administration deploying teachers for non-teaching duties?
