AGARTALA : The Congress on Thursday demanded that teachers of government-run schools be excluded from the census exercise in Tripura and instead contractual staffers be engaged in the enumeration process. In a letter to Chief Minister Manik Saha, Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha said the state government often speaks about improving education, but schools are facing a shortage of teachers.
“Currently, around 18,000 posts of teachers at different levels remain vacant across various wings of the education department while over 450 government schools are running with a single teacher (according to NITI Aayog findings). The growing pressure on teachers due to staff shortages adversely affects the quality of education,” he said.
Saha said teachers should primarily focus on teaching students, but they are “frequently engaged in government administrative work”.
“As a result, students, parents, and the education system are suffering,” the Congress leader claimed.
“In view of the present situation, we reiterate our demand to exclude government teachers from the census process and engage contractual staffers from the pool of educated youths to conduct the important exercise,” he said.
The first phase of the census – house listing and house enumeration – is set to be carried out from August 1 to 30 in the state.
Additionally, teachers may be relieved from the responsibility of booth level officers (BLOs) to ensure quality education in the state, he wrote.
Saha also voiced concern over the Supreme Court’s recent verdict mandating a BEd degree for in-service government teachers.
“If the ruling is implemented, around 10,000 government teachers will be affected in the northeastern state where teacher shortage is already a serious concern. I suggest taking up the issue with the Centre for an amicable solution to the problem,” he said.
Saha also demanded immediate recruitment of teachers by following a transparent recruitment drive to address the acute shortage of teachers in government schools. (Source: PTI)
