Patna: More than 80,000 teachers have been regularly staying away from duty everyday in Bihar without informing the senior authorities.
The sensational revelation has come to light in a latest survey conducted by the Anugrah Narayan Sinha Institute of Social Studies (ANSISS), the largest research institute in Bihar.
According to survey done at the behest of the state government, around 19 to 22 per cent of teachers out of their total number of 395,868 have been absenting from duty every day without informing the authorities concerned. The absenteeism has badly affected the teaching system in the schools, the report states.
The state government has now decided to crack down on truant teachers and issued instructions to education department officials detailing how to grant leaves to the teachers.
“From now on, the teachers will have to give prior information to the school principals even if they have to seek casual leave. Also, they will have to wait for leave approval,” education department secretary D.S. Gangwar told the media on Friday. He warned of stern action against the teachers if they were found absent from duty without prior permission during surprise checkings, adding that absenteeism had badly impacted the quality of education in schools.
The fresh development comes close on the heels of the authorities registering cases against more than 200 schoolteachers for getting jobs by submitting fake degrees and certificates. The cases were registered by the state vigilance bureau (SVB) which is probing the matter after being directed by the Patna High Court.
The action comes after the timeframe given by the Patna High Court to such teachers to resign on their own expired recently. Reports said more than 2,000 teachers resigned to escape severe punitive actions in the light of the HC order, but authorities say the number of such fake teachers could be around 40,000.
Right now the matter is being probed by the vigilance department, but the pace of investigation has drawn flak from the court. In June last year, the court had directed the vigilance department to investigate into the appointment of some 40,000 teachers who allegedly used fake degrees and certificates to get jobs in the government primary and middle schools, and submit the probe report within four weeks.
All these teachers were absorbed into government jobs during the massive recruitment drive launched by the Nitish Kumar government soon after it came to power in November 2005. Close to 400,000 teachers were appointed on contractual basis during the massive drive, but now it has come to light the recruitment exercise was full of flaws. This became further clear when a huge number of teachers failed the eligibility test conducted by the government, yet continued in their jobs.
Academic experts say the government failures to follow certain guidelines in matter of teachers’ recruitment have virtually destroyed the primary and secondary education in the state.
This was amply reflected during the annual matriculation examinations when large number of parents and guardians were seen climbing up the walls of a multi-storied examination centre in Bihar and supplying chits to their children, drawing global condemnation.
