Teachers out on SIR duty, government schools struggle to fill void inside classrooms

New Delhi:

With several government teachers enlisted by the Election Commission as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, school authorities have been pushed into reworking timetables to tackle the staff shortage. 

In several schools, a single teacher is being assigned to manage two classes. On other occasions, students are being sent to the library or sports ground in the absence of teachers in classrooms. 

Principals who are struggling to make these arrangements have expressed concerns over the disruption of regular classes, especially ahead of the mid-term exams in September. 

Teachers who have been appointed as BLOs are also finding themselves stretched trying to manage both school and SIR duties, with work pouring into night hours. 

Earlier in the week, the Government Schools Teachers’ Association (GSTA) flagged the issue of academic loss in a notice to Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood. In his letter, Ajay Veer Yadav, GSTA general secretary, said, “A substantial number of trained teachers have been deployed as BLOs and BLO supervisors for the SIR exercise. Consequently, the absence of thousands of teachers from schools is likely to adversely impact the education of lakhs of students. Such academic loss cannot be adequately compensated at a later stage.”

Around 13,000 BLOs have been deployed on ground, which include government school teachers, anganwadi workers and ASHA workers. According to the official orders deploying them on BLO duty, they will be required “full-time until October or the completion of the SIR process, whichever is earlier”. The notices also asked respective school heads or managers to make arrangements to relieve them of their duties for the said period.  

‘Impacting studies’
However, for a school principal who has had to spare a majority of his senior teachers for BLO duty, putting in place an alternative arrangement hasn’t been easy. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, the principal said, “Even some class teachers have been assigned BLO duty. So, who will teach then? Some teachers have been given two registers, and they have to take care of multiple classes.” 

But this comes with challenges too, the principal said. “A teacher might have another class. So, we have to merge some classes or send some students to the playground. But this will impact their studies and it will be difficult to complete the syllabus before the mid-term examinations in September.” 

Another school principal said, “We can’t leave the students alone. So during free periods, they are being engaged in the library or with sports. We have to alter timetables because the teachers will be away for a much longer time than they usually are for election or other duties.” 

‘Double the work’

A senior government school teacher, who has been engaged in BLO duty, said, “In my school, the principal has assigned my school duties to another teacher for the time being. But unfortunately, substitute teachers do not put in the same amount of effort because it is additional work for them, too.”

However, not all schools can afford to spare teachers exclusively for SIR duty. The problem was starker in schools from where more teachers have been deployed for BLO work. A teacher, who along with one more colleague from the school has been assigned SIR duty, said his principal has relieved him of his school duties completely. But in schools from where more teachers have been deployed as BLOs, they are trying to manage both the duties. 

Another teacher, who has been going to school in the morning and then heading out on SIR duty said, “There is pressure from both sides. I am going to school and then stepping out to go for door-to-door BLO work. There are no fixed hours as such, and we are working all day, and into the night.” 

Similarly, substitutes are taking care of the children at anganwadi centres. “I am fulfilling both my duties at the same time, though I’m managing some of it on my phone. My work starts early in the morning and continues till late at night,” said an anganwadi worker.