Assam to check teacher absenteeism in schools

Updated on: Tuesday, April 10, 2012

All schools in Assam will soon be connected with the Internet, through which the school administration is required to upload a daily report on staff attendance, to check cases of teacher absenteeism.

Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said as part of the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA), daily phone calls will also be made to principals of each school to ensure teacher attendance.

Sarma said during the inaugural ceremony of the RMSA in Assam, that "Every morning at 10 am, education department officials will call up headmasters who are expected to give details about that days' staff work schedule. The data will be sent to the chief minister's office and education department every afternoon."

"With a view to further streamline the process we are also developing an online tracking system and this will be in place in all schools within the current fiscal," he said, while warning that the state government is willing to "bid farewell" to those teachers who are not serious about work and stay away from duty frequently.

Assam will be releasing Rs 31 crore for training of teachers under RMSA in 2012-13.

"We will start a one-month training course for teachers of english, science and mathematics this year and we are looking at making this training an annual affair for all school teachers even if that mean paying them one month's additional salary," he said and added that 86 per cent of school teachers in the state lack professional degrees like B.Ed.

Sarma said the number of schools in Assam are slated to rise to 5,000 by 2016 from the present 2,600.

"Our target is to have one school at a distance of every five kilometer. With Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, we have been able to increase enrollment at primary classes to 98 per cent in Assam.

"However, enrollment rate at classes 8 and above remain as low as 50 per cent and successful implementation of the RMSA will remove this discrepancy," he said.

The minister said Assam will also launch the Higher Education Mission in 2012, placing it among a select few states to have inaugurated the scheme.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi speaking on the occasion, said the state government will take steps to start courses in fields like architecture and fashion technology to give more options to students as well as cater to demand for professionals in such sectors.

"Assam has seen many agitations led by students in last few decades. However, what we need is an agitation to improve education and the life of students," Gogoi said.

Assam to check teacher absenteeism in schools

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