The Teachers’ Association of Nuapada has demanded revoking of the suspension of 45 primary school teachers of the district, who were suspended by the district administration for four days for enrolling fake students and showing dropouts as regular.
A survey had revealed that 2,520 fake students had been enrolled in 522 schools of the district. likewise, showing 2,365 dropouts as regular students was found in 412 schools of the district.
Based on this report, the district administration had suspended 30 teachers and 15 Cluster Resource Coordinators (CRCCs) in the first phase and was supposed to take action against the others in next few days for this reason. The teachers had conducted meetings in their block headquarters on Monday and decided to protest the action of the administration.
"If the suspension orders on the employees are not revoked by November 10, we will go on strike,” the teachers said in a memorandum submitted to the Block Education Officers (BEOs) of the respective blocks on Tuesday.
District Collector Jaykumar V, on the contrary, said the suspensions are not without basis. “The decision to suspend them is based on the information supplied by the CRCCs and the teachers themselves; how can they deny their own findingsIJ” Jaykumar asked.
The teachers have also demanded that all additional works and responsibilities given to them be withdrawal immediately. “We will be obliged to the Government if the responsibilities of managing MDM, distribution of medicines and dresses, construction activities are withdrawal from us,” they said.
“No one has tried to know the ground reality and the root cause of the problem of the education system. You are sitting in a revolving chair and giving orders for collection of information. Have you cared to know how much textbooks have arrived and how many distributed although eight months have already passed; do you know from which source the teachers are arranging chalks, registers and papersIJ” the teachers have asked. “Who knows how we manage the MDM with such a meagre amount of Rs4.04 and Rs6.03 per student of primary and upper primary classes, respectivelyIJ We are managing this to save our jobs and to save ourselves from giving explanation,” they added.
The teachers’ memorandum said a BEO, during his visit to schools, is only keen to see whether the teachers are preparing and using lesson notes and lesson plans while teaching. He is not at all concerned about the fact that most of the Gana Shikshaks and Shiksha Sahayaks are covering 30 to 35 km to reach their schools.
“The BEO should also see that the problems of teachers are solved. If he continues to reveal such attitude, we will seek relief from court of law,” the teachers said.