Exempt teachers from poll duty, Punjab Education Department urges DCs

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, January 27

The School Education Department has urged all deputy commissioners-cum-district election officers (DCs-cum-DEOs) in the state to spare school teachers from poll duty.

The department secretary wrote to all DCs after many teachers were put on the duty for elections to eight Municipal Corporations, 109 Municipal Councils and nagar panchayats. While the voting for the local bodies election is scheduled on February 14, a large number of teachers have already been deployed on the poll duty.

Claiming that schools had reopened for offline classes only on January 7 after remaining shut for the past about nine months, it said the teachers be spared from the election duty for the benefitof the students.

Krishan Kumar, secretary, School Education Department, said sparing the teachers from the election duty was more relevant in view of the ‘Mission Shat Pratishat’ for 2020-21, aimed at empowering schools to achieve 100 per cent results despitethe pandemic in the state. This mission was launched by the Chief Minister on November 7, last year.

At the time when the teachers’ presence in the schools is of utmost importance for the students for their better performance in the final exams to achieve 100 per cent results, it is better if the non-teaching staff be assigned the election duties, read the secretary’s letter.

It is better if the teachers be exempted from poll duties so that they can continueto conduct offline classes in the last three months of the academic year.

Last week, over 100 teachers and heads of various government schools in the district were assigned the election duties.