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Assam teachers' body cries foul over non-educational work despite NEP guidelines

Tezpur, Oct 27: "As per the National Education Policy, teachers should not be engaged in any non-educational duties apart from population census and election duty. This has already been brought to the notice of Assam's Education Minister. However, teachers have been coerced into getting involved in certain non-educational activities/duties, which adversely affects their primary role as educators," said the general secretary of the Asam Madhyamik Sikshak Karmasari Santha, Brajen Chetia, while interacting with media persons on Sunday after a day-long State executive meeting of the frontline teachers' body held at the Collegiate High School. Chetia mentioned that there are many schools in the State that are functioning without a permanent headmaster, and these are functioning either under an in-charge headmaster or the inspector of schools concerned. He opined that if the teachers are saddled with non-teaching duties then the education sector can never develop in the desired manner. He further said that during the ancient period, gurus (teachers) managed the education system, but nowadays the gurus are instructed to perform various unnecessary works, thereby curtailing their liberty. He cited the example of certain autocratic orders/notifications issued by the education department and observed that instead of focusing on resolving a number of long-pending issues in the education sector, the government is concentrating on "certain useless activities that are wasting the valuable time of the students". Chetia said: "No doubt, the government is doing good work by appointing new teachers, but if the teachers are not given liberty to work freely for the uplift of the educational environment then we cannot expect the required progress in the education sector. If experienced and talented teachers are virtually held hostage then change will never be witnessed in the education sector." He, however, clarified that although they are not satisfied with some activities of the government, yet they remain optimistic about the future. Criticising third-party involvement in the teacher appointment process, Chetia also said that vocational teachers are appointed under the National Education Policy for developing the skills of the students. "But they are functioning under six companies and to speak honestly we are not satisfied with the appointment process of these teachers," he said. He added that several representations have been already submitted to the secretaries and ministers concerned for fulfilment of their demands, but these have remained unaddressed till date. He also alleged that due to lack of uniformity in the guidelines of the six companies concerned, the vocational teachers are facing many problems. He said that those teachers are not granted leave even during unavoidable circumstances and they have to face drastic action like pay cuts. He said, "No one can promote the education system by maligning a teacher's dignity. Teachers and the heads of schools should be given space to freely work for the mental and physical development of the students and the overall welfare of the schools." He further said that though the remuneration of the fixed-pay teachers appointed during 2001 has been regularised, their grade pay has not been increased till date. At the same time, the contractual teachers appointed during 2010 have been regularised but their seniority has decreased by 15 years. Likewise, Chetia said, till date the salary of the ICT teachers has not been increased. The teachers of the schools that were provincialised in 2013 will face a heavy loss as they will retire within 3/4 years under the New Pension System, he said. He demanded that the government should restore the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) after discussing the matter in detail with the Central government. The organisation's central executive meeting was attended by over one hundred executive members from across the State. The meeting discussed several issues faced by the teachers of the State. Organised under the patronage of the Sonitpur district committee of the teachers' body, the day-long meeting started with solemn tributes to legendary artistes Dr Bhupen Hazarika and Zubeen Garg. The meeting was chaired by the president of the teachers' body, Hemanta Saikia. During the media interaction, the secretary of the organisation also informed that though Education Minister Dr Ranoj Pegu had initially consented to attend the event, he could not do so.

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