‘They have studied nothing’: Teachers away from classrooms for SIR; mid-term, SSLC preparatory exams near
Government school teachers in India are facing significant classroom shortages as they are increasingly diverted to election-related administrative duties. This has led to incomplete syllabi and increased student absenteeism ahead of critical mid-term and board exams.
Why it matters
The diversion of teaching staff to administrative tasks highlights a systemic conflict between electoral processes and the quality of public education.
“Mid-term examinations for government high schools are in November. But the syllabus is still mostly incomplete. It has been more than four months that schools have been running with just one-fourth of their teaching strength, with some schools having only a single teacher. Many students have dropped out in between, while absenteeism is going up,” said a high school teacher, appointed as a Booth Level Officer (BLO) for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Across government schools, teachers said the shortage has become worse as they are pulled out of classrooms for the last four months for SIR-related work. Of the more than 59,000 BLOs appointed for SIR, government school teachers form the largest group.
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