Teachers union oppose holiday duty system

The new rule mandates four teachers on holiday duty and three teachers on night stay duty. The teachers termed the holiday duty system as unscientific, unprecedented and impractical for implementation

Hyderabad: A new holiday duty system, and night stay duty and facial recognition system implementation for recording attendance, among other changes made by the Telangana Congress government in the social welfare residential schools and colleges, evoked strong opposition from the teacher community.

The new rule mandates four teachers on holiday duty and three teachers on night stay duty. The teachers termed the holiday duty system as unscientific, unprecedented and impractical for implementation. For over three decades, the two teachers, each in the morning and afternoon system, worked efficiently and ensured smooth functioning of the schools and colleges, the teachers said.

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Stating that they are not security guards, teachers lamented that assigning three teachers for night stay every day was unnecessary and inhumane. The new system has resulted in a lack of rest in teaching, prolonged fatigue and a decline in classroom performance. For decades, the school and colleges followed only one teacher per night staying on the campus.

The Telangana Social Welfare Residential Teachers’ Union (TSWRTU) opposed ‘one holiday for every 15 days’ for teachers and called it an unscientific and unethical practice. This, according to the Union, would be harmful to teachers’ physical and mental health.

As for the FRS, the teachers said the new system was consuming one hour every morning to mark attendance, resulting in loss of the first period, and disruption of academic continuity, besides creating difficulties for teachers travelling long distances.

Changes were introduced without assessing ground-level realities, resulting in excessive workload, academic disruption, and severe stress on teachers, the union said.

The teachers demanded that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy restore the earlier holiday duty system and night duties. They also wanted modification of the FRS system, withdrawal of the ‘one holiday per 15 days’ rule and introduction of a humane and balanced rest policy.

“When teachers are overburdened, the first victims are students and their learning outcomes. A balanced duty system is essential for maintaining the academic excellence of Telangana’s Gurukulas,” the union added.