New Delhi: A recent order issued by Punjab’s Department of School Education has ruffled feathers, with government teachers taking strong exception to it.
What does the order say?
As per the order, the government teachers and staff have been asked to enroll as enumerators for the state’s first ‘Drug and Socio-Economic Census’, a direction that has been lambasted by teachers who have accused the government of imposing continued “non-academic” work.
A letter dated March 12 directed the district education officers (DEOs) to see to it that both regular and contractual teachers employed with the department register themselves as enumerators for the census exercise. The letter pointed out that secretary education “will review the figures on a daily basis”, multiple reports said.
As per the order, the teachers will have to carry out surveys after school hours and on holidays, and each of them will have to cover almost 250 households within designated election booths, with the help of mobile application provided by the government.
The office of school education director sent the order.
What will the survey cover?
During the state budget presentation on March 8, finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema had said that the drug census was an important part of the government’s “Yudh Nashian Virudh” (war against drugs) campaign.
Set to kick off from April 5 and conclude within 45 days, the survey will cover every household in the state to identify the number of drug users and the types of substances being abused. It is aimed at understanding the link between drug abuse and factors such as joblessness, poverty and level of education.
What did the teachers contend?
But, the teachers have raised objection to the direction. Punjab teacher unions slammed the department and accused it of “imposing another non-teaching and non-academic” work on them. They also sarcastically asked if “counting the drug addicts was also their work”.
Vikram Dev, the president of Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), reportedly told The Indian Express: “From conducting polls to counting drug addicts, checking stubble burning to SIR exercise of the Election Commission and making health cards for the government’s insurance scheme, every sort of non-academic work is being taken from teachers, and then the CM and the education minister claim that teachers will only teach. Is this the Sikhya Kranti that the Punjab government boasts of?”
In a statement, the DTF said, “The Punjab government is conducting a drug and socio-economic census in the state, in which the government has sought online requests for voluntary census duty from contractual or regular employees… Punjab Education Department is imposing forced duties on teachers. Although this work is of 45 days and has to be done after office hours and the employee is to get Rs 62,500 for this… the higher education officials are now forcing teachers to register and pressurizing them.” It is believed that the department has already stationed over 20,000 teachers on BLO duty.
“We are already burdened with examination duties and other administrative work. Now, we are again being assigned survey work,” a teacher was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying.
Offering a suggestion, teacher unions have said that the state should rope in jobless youth or NGO volunteers working in drug rehabilitation to help in the census activity. They added that this would go a long way in creating part-time jobs while also ensuring that the education department’s work is free of any disruptions.