The Congress today demanded that teachers of government-run schools be excluded from the census exercise in Tripura and instead contractual staffers be engaged in the enumeration process.
In a letter to Chief Minister Manik Saha, Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee president Asish Kumar Saha said the state government often speaks about improving education, but schools are facing a shortage of teachers.
“Currently, around 18,000 posts of teachers at different levels remain vacant across various wings of the education department while over 450 government schools are running with a single teacher (according to NITI Aayog findings). The growing pressure on teachers due to staff shortages adversely affects the quality of education,” he said.
The Congress leader said the shortage is having a negative impact on classroom teaching, student attendance and the overall quality of education. He further alleged that administrative duties such as electoral work and census-related assignments are putting an additional burden on teachers, leaving them with less time to focus on classroom instruction.
Saha also criticised the implementation of the Vidyajyoti School initiative, claiming that the closure and merger of several schools have increased dropout rates in some areas and created difficulties for students, particularly those from economically weaker sections. He alleged that many schools continue to face shortages of English teachers, inadequate infrastructure and unreliable electricity supply, textbooks, especially in rural and hilly regions.
According to Saha, assigning teachers and education workers to extensive non-academic responsibilities, including census and election duties, has increased physical and mental stress among education staff while affecting the learning environment in schools. He argued that these assignments should be handled by dedicated administrative personnel rather than teaching staff.
Tripura Congress seeks withdrawal of govt teachers from census-related duties
