PATNA: The block officials' order to the schoolteachers in Dev of Aurangabad and Kurhani in Muzaffarpur district to keep a watch on those defecating in the open in their respective areas has created yet another controversy regarding their role in the present education system, which draws flak in the state for various reasons more often than not.
The schoolteachers of the two blocks have not only been asked to create mass awareness but also to click the photographs of those defecating in the open from 5am to 7am and 4pm to 6pm in their respective panchayats. As per the order of Dev BDO and Kurhani block education officer, the headmasters and teachers will also do physical verification of toilets.
A middle-school teacher at Bhairopur in Aurangabad district expressed his displeasure over the recent directive and said, "I travel 17.8km from my house in Barun block to the Bhairopur school daily. We are asked to approach people and motivate them to construct toilet at their homes. We have also been instructed to hold a meeting to review the work twice a week till December-end."
Another schoolteacher said, "The government wants to make the blocks in Muzaffarpur open defecation free (ODF) by December-end. It is the government officials who should do these works. Why do they burden us?"
Reacting to the order, Bihar Secondary School Teachers Association's general secretary Shatrughan Prasad Singh wrote a letter to CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday and said it is "disrespectful and exploitative". He asked the government to roll back the decision. "The education system in Bihar is already in dire straits. The government should spare the educators from non-academic works like preparing and serving midday meal, election duty, sanitation and other sundry jobs. The secondary and senior secondary school headmasters and teachers were already burdened with the task of correcting the data of Class X and XII students after the private agency committed blunders in their registration," the former MP said.
"The ongoing sent-up examination for Class XII students keeps the teachers busy and the Class X sent-up examination is also to commence on December 1. The teachers are supposed to evaluate the papers and prepare the results on time," Singh said and added: "We respect the cleanliness drive, but engaging schoolteachers in this work is scornful."
The schoolteachers of the two blocks have not only been asked to create mass awareness but also to click the photographs of those defecating in the open from 5am to 7am and 4pm to 6pm in their respective panchayats. As per the order of Dev BDO and Kurhani block education officer, the headmasters and teachers will also do physical verification of toilets.
A middle-school teacher at Bhairopur in Aurangabad district expressed his displeasure over the recent directive and said, "I travel 17.8km from my house in Barun block to the Bhairopur school daily. We are asked to approach people and motivate them to construct toilet at their homes. We have also been instructed to hold a meeting to review the work twice a week till December-end."
Another schoolteacher said, "The government wants to make the blocks in Muzaffarpur open defecation free (ODF) by December-end. It is the government officials who should do these works. Why do they burden us?"
Reacting to the order, Bihar Secondary School Teachers Association's general secretary Shatrughan Prasad Singh wrote a letter to CM Nitish Kumar on Tuesday and said it is "disrespectful and exploitative". He asked the government to roll back the decision. "The education system in Bihar is already in dire straits. The government should spare the educators from non-academic works like preparing and serving midday meal, election duty, sanitation and other sundry jobs. The secondary and senior secondary school headmasters and teachers were already burdened with the task of correcting the data of Class X and XII students after the private agency committed blunders in their registration," the former MP said.
"The ongoing sent-up examination for Class XII students keeps the teachers busy and the Class X sent-up examination is also to commence on December 1. The teachers are supposed to evaluate the papers and prepare the results on time," Singh said and added: "We respect the cleanliness drive, but engaging schoolteachers in this work is scornful."
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