Telangana schools: 20,000 teachers found away from classrooms on working days

Around 20,000 teachers in Telangana’s government and local body schools are away from classrooms on working days, records show. Over 11,000 were on leave and 4,160 were absent without leave on October 1, while thousands more are deployed elsewhere

Hyderabad: It is not just students’ attendance that is a cause for concern in government and local body schools across the State. Teacher attendance has also become an issue, with thousands of teachers staying away from their basic teaching duties.

On any given working day, around 20,000 teachers are found to be away from classrooms. This accounts for 15 per cent of the total 1,37,011 teaching workforce in government and local body schools in the State.

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For instance, according to Education department records, a staggering 11,041 teachers across the State went on leave on October 1. Sangareddy recorded the highest number, with 597 teachers on leave on a single day. It was followed by Rangareddy with 538, Hyderabad with 435 and Medchal-Malkajgiri with 206.

In addition to those on leave, a whopping 4,160 teachers were absent without leave (AWOL). Vikarabad district recorded the highest number at 378, followed by Rangareddy with 260, Suryapet with 236 and Hyderabad with 203 on October 1.

Overall, teacher absenteeism recorded on the Facial Recognition System (FRS) was highest in Rangareddy (798), followed by Sangareddy (755), Nalgonda (751), Nizamabad (680) and Hyderabad (638).

During recent surprise inspections at some schools, Hyderabad district collector Dr Priyanka Ala found that 183 teachers had not marked their attendance through the FRS and were absent without prior information. All these teachers have already been served show-cause notices by the district administration.

Teaching and learning in classrooms, which is taking a beating due to teachers being on leave or absent without leave, has also been affected by on-duty (OD) permissions granted by the State government. As many as 4,530 teachers who are supposed to teach in classrooms have already been drafted to other departments on OD. Further, approval for OD requests of another 2,189 teachers is pending with the government.

For instance, most of the coordinators working in the Directorate of School Education are teachers, and even headmasters are being drafted for these positions. Teachers are also being used for non-teaching work in DEO offices and Samagra Shiksha projects.

One of the reasons cited for teachers and headmasters seeking ODs is their desire to work in urban areas or at district headquarters. There are also allegations that some teachers on OD have not been relieved even after their deputation periods ended.