The School Education Department (SED) last week canceled attachments of its teaching staff across J&K who have been directed to report back to their actual place of posting.
The order was issued after hundreds of teachers continue to remain deployed in different offices other than the school education department which has caused dearth of teaching staff in schools. These teachers remain aloof from training programmes and other workshops organized at enhancing the teaching ability of the teachers. Besides CEO and ZEO offices, the teachers are deployed in DC offices for election related duties, compilation of Adhar cards and other non-academic works which ultimately tell up the academics at the schools.
The deployment of teachers in other departments has remained a never ending debate as the orders for detachment of these teachers do not see proper implementation on ground.
Even if the administrative department orders for canceling all the attachments, the teachers are again deputed to these offices for manning non-academic assignments. While the government has canceled attachment of teachers from other departments of various districts, dozens of teachers are manning clerical jobs in offices at zonal and district level.
The principal secretary school education department, Bishwajit Kumar Singh in his order has directed the teaching staff to report to their actual place of posting from where they are getting the salary. “In case of non-joining, serious action will be taken under rules,” the order reads.
The administrative department has also instructed the Director of School Education of Jammu and Kashmir division to focus on the training of teaching staff to raise the learning outcomes of students of government schools.
The Deputy Commissioners (DCs) have also been asked to immediately relieve the teaching staff of the school education department deployed in their offices for different nature of duties. While the administrative department has woken up to the attachment of teachers in other departments, there has been no implementation of the previous orders and circular instructions issued repeatedly for detachment of teachers from CEO and ZEO offices.
Dozens of teachers continue to remain deputed in different sections of Directorate of School Education Kashmir (DSEK) who have never attended their schools for years together. Same is the case with District Institute of Education and Trainings (DIETs) and State Council of Education Research and Trainings (SCERT) where some hand-picked teachers are deputed in these research institutes for years together. These teachers are enjoying prolonged stints in these offices contrary to the government circulars. The department has never followed any criteria for deployment of teachers and lecturers in DIETs and SCERT.
“There should be a review by the department to assess the performance of the teachers who are deployed in these DIETs and SCERT for years together,” a teacher said.
The posting in DIETs and SCERT is supposed to be reviewed after every two to three years and a new lot of teachers are deployed in these institutes with an aim to enhance the teaching ability of the teachers. “But there is no accountability in the system. These institutes have been kept confined for the influential lot of teachers who are deployed there,” he said.
The teachers in schools are made accountable every year after deceleration of the class 10th and 12th results in case of poor performance of the students. But those posted in DIETs and SCERT enjoy their stint without any accountability because they are not posted in schools for teaching purposes.