Government teachers on block duty, studies take a hit

BHOPAL: The future of lakhs of government school students across Madhya Pradesh hangs in the balance owing to absence of teachers, as thousands of them have been deputed for Block Level Officer (BLO) service. It has adversely impacted studies in the current academic session.
Headmaster of Government Primary School at Lalghati's Nayapura ML Pachori said, "Out of 20 teachers, nine have been pressed into BLO service." He said that some classes had to be suspended ever since the teachers went on deputation a few months back.
There are some 300 students registered with the school. "In Bhopal district alone, around 3,000 teachers have been deputed on the BLO job," said principal of a group of government schools Sapna Shrivastava. She said that the district administration has been reminded several times to excuse teachers from BLO job or let them undertake it in their own school so that they do not miss classes.
A teacher of a school, speaking on condition of anonymity said, "The government is against the Right to Education (RTE) norms. As per Section 35(1) of RTE Act, 2009, teachers can only be deployed for election duty. The deployment of teachers in non-educational services should not be during school hours, as they can be assigned non-educational services only on holidays or after school hours. And, BLO work is non-educational."
School's primary teacher Chandra Kala Jain said "There is no need for teachers to correct voter ID cards as BLOs, instead department officials can handle the work.
Teachers assigned BLO job said that they have been missing classes for which students have to suffer. "We have to complete course as exams are due in December. Though duty is for one month, it extends by more than 15 days every year."
Tal king to TOI, district collector Nishant Wardwade said, "We have been deploying teachers for election duty since many years." He added that the district administration would ensure that students do not suffer.