eachers have welcomed the move, citing BLO duty keeps some of the teachers away from school throughout the year. (File Photo)
In a first by a school education minister, Maharashtra’s Dada Bhuse has written a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, requesting to exempt teachers from Block Level Officer (BLO) duties and other election-related work. According to Bhuse, teachers being away from school for election duty causes academic loss.
Stating that teachers should be completely free of BLO duties, state School Education Minister Bhuse said in his letter, “The future of students in the state and the quality of education are the highest priorities. A teacher’s job is to teach in the classroom. Election-related duties consume teachers’ time and cause academic loss to students. Moreover, capable staff is available in other departments as an alternative arrangement for teachers during elections.”
Referring to Election Commission guidelines, Bhuse suggested that manpower from other government departments such as Anganwadi workers, Talathis (revenue department), gram sevak, agriculture assistant, postmen, health workers, ASHA workers and municipal employees can be roped in for BLO duties. Stating that regular classes are disrupted due to BLO duties of teachers, Bhuse in his letter highlighted that according to Right To Education (RTE) Act, primary duty of teachers is teaching; but they are now given many non-academic responsibilities.
Teachers have welcomed the move, citing BLO duty keeps some of the teachers away from school throughout the year. Mahendra Ganpule, from the Association of School Principals, said, “Even as teachers are not completely off the BLO duty, if this initiative is going to reduce the load by including manpower from other government departments, that will be a great relief. Government schools are already running with a shortage of teachers and some of them going out for BLO duty leads to academic loss for students.”
Vijay Kombe, president of Maharashtra Rajya Prathamik Shikshak Samiti, an association of teachers from primary schools, said, “BLO duties keep teachers away from schools for a long period. If the state’s school education minister is taking a stand in this case, we welcome the move. But at the same time, the school education department, too, allows teachers to focus on teaching rather than having to participate in a spree of initiatives ongoing throughout the academic year, for which we have to spend time in documentation of it on multiple apps and websites.”
Moreover, some teachers have also pointed out that it is included in RTE that teachers will have to participate in election, census and disaster situations. “Accordingly, when education minister Bhuse issued a Government Resolution (GR) issued last year, reducing non-academic responsibilities of teachers; these three were continued as it is. Now if the state government really considers this new demand and takes teachers off BLO duty; it will be a great move,” said a senior teacher from Mumbai.