Schools Counting Academic Loss With Staff Away From Classrooms
Classroom teaching has taken a hit with teachers away on SIR duty
Pune: The SIR’s extension until Aug 17 has brought little relief to teachers working as BLOs for over a month in the state. Instead, school heads and teachers said it means another two weeks away from classrooms at a time when schools are preparing for unit tests and adapting to new textbooks introduced under National Education Policy.With the draft electoral rolls now scheduled to be published on Aug 24, teachers appointed as BLOs and those assisting them will continue house visits, verification and related work. Educators said the extension will further delay classroom teaching and increase pressure on the remaining staff.Schools across Maharashtra have reported that several teachers are either fully relieved from their duties or are spending most of their working hours on electoral work. In many govt and civic schools, this has left a limited number of teachers to manage multiple classes.Teacher Madhav Suryawanshi said the prolonged engagement of teachers in the exercise is beginning to affect students. “BLO and SIR duties are complicated and continuous processes that require teachers to stay away from classrooms for several weeks. This year, Stds III, IV and VI have new textbooks under the NEP, which already require additional classroom attention. Schools are struggling to complete the syllabus, and the first unit tests are due this month. In several schools, there are simply no teachers available to teach certain classes, raising concerns over examinations and assessment,” he said.The extension means election-related work will continue well beyond the initial deadline. Faruk Kazi, another teacher involved in the exercise, said, “We have been under immense pressure for the past month. The form-filling process was completed only recently, but now verification and subsequent stages will continue. With the revised schedule, this work is likely to stretch into Oct. The bigger concern is that the education department has rarely stepped forward to protect teachers from prolonged non-academic duties or raised their concerns effectively.”School heads said the burden is not limited to teachers officially designated as BLOs. Headmaster Tanaji Mane said almost the entire school staff in his school had been assigned to assist the revision exercise.“Our school has 17 teachers, one clerk and four Class IV employees. Initially, three teachers were BLOs, but from July all teaching and non-teaching staff were assigned as assistants for the SIR exercise and directed to be relieved from school duties. We had to run the school with reduced strength before everyone was eventually relieved. Later, I too was assigned election duty. At the same time, schools continue receiving circulars on literacy surveys, out-of-school children, student records and departmental competitions. It has become extremely difficult to run schools normally,” he said.Teachers also questioned whether the impact on classroom learning is receiving adequate public attention. Suhas Gurav, an educator, said the discussion should not be limited to the additional workload. “The real question is whether parents and society recognise that prolonged BLO and SIR responsibilities prevent teachers from devoting sufficient time to their primary responsibility of teaching. If there is concern about students’ learning loss, it should be reflected in public discourse and policy decisions as well,” he said.
