Tripura government getting tough on absentee teachers, but to no avail

From A Correspondent

Agartala, May 28: The Education Department is worried over the growing absenteeism among the teachers and depleting number of students’ attendance in the schools especially in the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC) areas.

A recent report prepared by the Education Department of the TTAADC said discipliry actions like issue of show cause notice; pay held up, issue of warning letter has been taken against over 1,200 teachers in last five months but that has failed to improve the situation.

‘Such actions have failed to make the teachers school bound not the campaign launched by the department to attract students to the school yielded any result’, the report said.

Though the report abstained to make any comment about the reasons for the failure, sources close to the Education Department, points their finger towards the teachers and employees organizations affiliated to the ruling CPI(M).

‘Leaders of these organizations intervene whenever action is taken against any teacher and prevents the department to proceed further with the discipliry actions’, an officer of the Education Department said on condition of anonymity.

He said occasiolly the inspector of school or the officers in the district level organizes meetings to discuss the steps to be taken to improve the condition of the schools but all remains confined within the meeting venue only.

‘There are several instances when the authority held up pay of a teacher for uuthorized absence but he is getting the full salary with arrears after two or three months’, he said.   

The report said as per an average estimate less them 30 per cent students are attending in most of the schools while it is less than ten per cent in interior areas. It expressed concern that if this is the condition in the beginning of the session, it is likely to deteriorate by the end of the year.    

The net outcome of the pitiable condition of the government schools is that dropout rate is increasing among the poorer section of the society while the affluent are sending their students to privately run English medium schools whose business are flourishing in the state.