Teachers’ journey from nation-builder to multi-disciplinary worker, now monitoring, counting and identifying stray dogs – A comprehensive international analysis
Growing non-academic burden on teachers in India – Education system is being reduced to monitoring stray dogs.
Teachers have been ordered to monitor, count and identify stray dogs, which has angered teachers – We are being made a laughing stock, it is an attack on our professional dignity. The main role of teachers is to teach children, not count dogs – Advocate Kishan Sammukhdas Bhavani, Gondia, Maharashtra
Gondia – Globally, teachers in India are traditionally considered as the architects of children’s future, guides of society and intellectual pillars of the nation. The function of education is not just the transmission of knowledge, but also the foundation of human values, civic consciousness, character building and social development. Ironically, in the Indian education system, teachers are often burdened with a number of non-academic tasks in addition to teaching – including census work, election management for the Election Commission, door-to-door activities for the Health Department, surveys, food distribution records, Panchayat activities, and sometimes urgent tasks assigned by the local administration. I, Advocate Kishan Samukhdas Bhavnani, Gondia, Maharashtra, believe that this imbalance has affected the professional dignity of teachers and raised serious questions about the quality of education for children. In this broader context, a recent order in Poonch and Kupwara districts of Jammu and Kashmir, requiring teachers to identify, report and monitor stray dogs seen around the school premises and display “Beware of Dogs” signboards, has sparked a national debate. Teachers have called the directive a despicable, insulting and ridiculous move. The matter is not limited to just two districts, but points to the troubled structure of India’s education system, in which the teacher has become a multi-disciplinary employee. This analysis provides a comprehensive assessment of the entire incident from social, administrative, judicial, educational and international perspectives. Friends, if we try to understand the background of the order that prompted teachers to count dogs, the first issue for discussion was an order issued in districts like Poonch and Kupwara in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where Article 370 of the Indian Constitution has now been abrogated. has been passed, in which teachers were tasked with counting stray dogs, documenting their sightings and reporting their behaviour or incidents. Teachers’ organisations say that this move goes against their professional dignity and appears to be handing over any administrative burden to teachers. The orders clearly state that each school should appoint a nodal officer who will record the sightings of stray dogs and submit them to the office of the District Education Officer. The situation is even more complicated in remote schools where teachers are already burdened with multiple tasks: running the school, conducting classes, monitoring mid-day meals, admissions, departmental reporting, administrative inspections and RTE compliance. Adding the number of dogs to the workload of teachers increases their burden. It adds unnecessary burden and reduces the quality of education.
Friends, if we consider that Poonch and Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir Why were the orders issued, the Jammu and Kashmir administration says that the number of stray dogs has increased in several districts, and incidents of dogs attacking children in school campuses have come to light. The Supreme Court has recently directed to effectively implement stray dog population control and animal birth control programmes. This is why the District Deputy Commissioner held an important meeting, in which it was decided that teachers were considered the easiest and most available option to implement measures like dog monitoring, implementation of animal birth control, cooperation with municipalities for monitoring dangerous animals, and protection of students, since they are present in schools and are part of the administrative system. This approach may provide administrative convenience, but it undermines the reality of education.
Friends, if we consider whether it was necessary to appoint teachers as nodal officers? To understand this, one administrative criticism is that the CEOs of Poonch and Kupwara The orders issued by the Ministry of Education have designated teachers, headmasters and principals as the nodal officers responsible for reporting the presence of dogs. The order has drawn criticism because (1) teachers are not safety experts; (2) they lack technical knowledge about animal behaviour; (3) handling risky situations is the responsibility of trained individuals; (4) it is the primary jurisdiction of municipalities, animal husbandry and local bodies; and (5) teachers perform sensitive work on a daily basis; their classes will be disrupted by surveillance dogs. This administrative procedure is being seen as an example of imposing the shortcomings of government departments on teachers.
Friends, if we talk about the directive to put up boards saying “Beware of Dogs” – symbolism or solution? The order also said that outside every school, at every entrance
Post a Comment