Short on teachers, UP jails take govt schools’ help

Lukcnow: Looking to fix the problem by diverting resources from government schools, the Basic Education Council (BEC) will deploy 52 teachers to teach children of women inmates in 41 central and district jails across the state. The teachers would be deployed from nearby schools to fill up the vacant posts soon in various districts.
The council took the decision following a request from prison administration and reform services.

With four teachers, the Gautam Buddh Nagar district jail would get the maximum number of professionals, followed by Budaun (three). The central jails in Naini, Fatehgarh and Bareilly would get two teachers each. “BEC does not have any fixed sanctioned strength of teachers, so they would be employed from schools located nearest to the jail on the basis of availability,” said a BEC official.

Secretary of BEC, Ruby Singh, said, “We had received a request from the UP Prisons Administration and Reform Services that their jails were facing an acute shortage of teachers and it was affecting the studies of children of women inmates. There are also some inmates who want to study more, so the council decided to send 52 teachers over these jails to teach the inmates and their children.”

District basic education officials have been tasked to deploy teachers in such a manner that the teacher-student ratio is not disturbed in government schools. “The administration told the council that it needed eight headmasters and 44 teachers. The DBEOs have to ensure that the student-teacher ratio from the school where the teachers are being transferred is not disturbed,” said Singh. Jail inmates can continue study up to class XII by appearing for examinations conducted by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The inmates study the course prescribed by UP Secondary Education Board (UP Board).