No result, no hike rule riles teachers

RANCHI: Government’s decision to withhold annual increments to teachers of more than 18 schools for poor performance of students in Class 10 and 12 state boards have riled teachers who blame extreme staff crunch.

The teachers said the government upgraded around 5,000 primary schools to include higher classes but didn’t recruit additional teachers, forcing them to attend secondary classes as well. This affects the quality of teaching as they have spread themselves thin to cover syllabus on time, the teachers said.

“A total of 15,000 posts need to be created in all the upgraded schools. The lack of post creation is stressing out teachers and also affecting the quality education,” said Jharkhand Primary Teachers’ Association spokesperson Sanjay Kumar Sinha.

More than 52 lakh students study in 45,680 government schools in Jharkhand. The dropout rate of students is also linked to the lack of teachers and poor quality of education and poor performance of students. There are 4.3% children between the age of 6 and 14 who are out of school, says the Annual Status of Education Report.

The school education and literacy department is conducting surveys to ascertain the exact number of vacant posts in all schools.

TEACHERS SAID THE GOVERNMENT UPGRADED 5,000 PRIMARY SCHOOLS BUT DIDN’T RECRUIT ADDITIONAL STAFF