Enumeration work to hit state schools

After transfers, engaging government teachers as enumerators in field verification of 2011- Census data for National Population Register (NPR) is likely to hit the education in the government school in the Telangana.

The government teachers are being engaged as enumerators for the date collection from November 16 to December 15 in the state.

Principal Secretary for planning P. B Acharya asked the officials concerned to engage government teachers in enumeration to get accurate data.

Already many single teacher primary schools are closed due to transfers and nearly 250 out 1,211 selected Vidya volunteer have not joined work.

There was hardly much academic work done in the government school during June 20 to July 25 after scheduled was released for counseling for teachers’ transfers and promotions. The government schools reopened on June 12 of this year. And now Dasara holidays have been declared for 16 days.     

Half of the academic year has gone waste without any serious academic work. Even today Vidya volunteers have not joined in the government schools in interior areas in Kautala, Bejjur and Dahegoan mandals in the Adilabad district.

No qualified candidates applied for VVs from these mandals and hence selected candidates of other parts of the district have been posted in these mandals but many VV have not joined the duty due to long distance.

Actually, there are 2,900 primary schools and among them more than 1,000 are being run with single teachers in the district.

It is said that only 50 percent of the requirement of teachers filed up with Vidya Volunteers.

Teachers unions say that notification has issued for the recruitment of only 7,900 Vidya Volunteers where as the actual requirement was 15,000 in the schools in the state.

It is said that VVs have not shown interest in joining in interior areas as it was temporary with Rs 8,000 salary and most of them were already working in private schools in the towns.

A.   Venkat, district general secretary of  Telangana State United Teachers Federation (TSUTF) said  engaging the government teachers in surveys at the cost of the academic work was against the Right to Education Act and said such additional work will certainly dilute the government education system and  indirectly create demand for private and corporate education as parents will lose confidence in government schools. 

Transfers paralyse school education

The recent transfers of teachers have paralyzed education in government schools in general and primary schools in particular and many primary schools in the interior areas especially in tribal areas are closed as there is no teacher available in the Telangana.

Primary schools having student strength between 15-25 were being neglected a lot after teachers’ transfers. The state government has not bothered much about the children studying in such schools and there was every possibility of such students discontinuing studies and ending up as drop outs.

It is said that nearly five to seven primary schools in tribal mandals remain closed as there is no school teacher to run the school in the Adilabad district. 

This situation was emerged with the transfers of teachers and now some of the teachers were not showing interest to work at schools in interior and tribal areas.In the process, parents start looking at their children as source of income and send them for agriculture labor works and cattle grazing or some other work if the officials concerned failed to bring them back immediately.         

Single teacher schools have been neglected a lot in the process of adjusting teachers in the schools, promotion and their transfers by the education department.

At some places, teacher post at primary schools having student strength bellow 50 was not being filled with other teacher and such post was lying vacant since the teacher of said school got promotion or transferred to some other place in the recent counseling.

District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) member Meerza Yakoob Baig said ‘ seven primary schools having student strength each between 15-25 remain closed for the last one month in Indravelli mandal alone in the district.

State government is planning to recruit qualified Vidya Voluntaries (VV) by first week of October’. He said the problems regarding closure of the primary schools reported in 32 tribal including five agency madals out of total 52 in the district. There were total 640 tribal villages in 32 mandals.

There was only one teacher up to 8^th class for Urdu medium High school having 107 students strength in Indravelli mandal headquarters.

Primary schools are remain closed due to no teacher available in government schools in Ginnera, Gopalpur, Kannapur, Kannapur Thanda, Bheempur, Tekdiguda- Gatkapalli, Rampurguda villages in Indravelli mandal. There was only one teacher for 80 students in Pochampalli village in Indravelli mandal in district.

The Adilabad district education department has issued notification for 1,227 Vidya volunteers. It is learn that priority would be given to the local eligible and qualified applicants in the selection for the post of Vidya Volunteers.