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This news item says that 34% of Assam's teachers (primary school) play truant, and as usual is ranked close to its best friend, Bihar.
I think some of the reasons are that many of these teachers are after private tuition, don't get paid in time (or nat at all), and of course paid very little.
The State Govt. wants to have frequent inspections. But I suppose one can have these inspections only after the Govt. has done everything else so that teachers enjoy teaching.
--Ram
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By a Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, May 15: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy", goes a popular adage. Corollary: Even if he keeps the balance of work and play, as long as teachers are away, Jack is bound to be a dull boy. Such is the picture in Asom. According to a survey conducted by the World Bank, 30 to 34 per cent of government primary school teachers in Asom are absent from work. Worse, only 50 per cent of teachers are actually engaged in the act of teaching while at work. The survey ranks Asom next only to Jharkhand, Bihar and Punjab. Jharkhand tops the list with 38-42 per cent absentees followed by Bihar and Punjab with 34-38 per cent of the teachers playing truant from school. While absenteeism is widely cited as a barrier to improving education, the grim picture of the State painted by the report is most likely to be symptomatic of other problems of quality control and accountability in education. Even as the Government continues to harp on its different schemes like provision of mid-day meal and free text books, absenteeism among teachers virtually undermines the whole thrust towards getting children into school. The researchers found that teachers absence is more correlated with daily incentives to attend work. So schools with better infrastructure and communication facilities had fewer teachers playing truant. More, teachers are less likely to be absent at schools that have been inspected recently. Official sources said that school inspections have come down drastically in the last couple of years. Being specific to Asom, nominal salaries coupled with temporary jobs are major causes behind the waning enthusiasm among teachers to work. Another reason cited in case of Asom is the increasing involvement of teachers in politics. Of late, the State Government is toying with the idea of regularizing inspections in schools to enhance the attendance of teachers. According to official sources, the district elementary education authority will have the onus of ensuring regular attendance of teachers. The Deputy Commissioners would also be told to interfere to restore accountability in education. Ironically, even though 50 per cent of the government employees comprise of school teachers, there is no authentic data available with the government regarding the actual number of teachers in the state. | |
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