Kolkata Schools Grapple with Severe Teacher Shortage During Madhyamik Examinations
The education department in Kolkata has implemented alternative arrangements for invigilation duties during the ongoing Madhyamik examinations, as a significant majority of teachers remain occupied with Special Intensive Revision (SIR) responsibilities. This unprecedented situation has compelled authorities to assign educators from neighboring schools to ensure smooth conduct of the crucial board exams.
Emergency Measures and School Concerns
Recently, the District Inspector of Schools in Kolkata convened an urgent meeting with headmasters of all secondary institutions to address the critical teacher shortage during the examination period. During this crucial discussion, schools designated as examination venues received specific instructions to arrange backup teachers from adjacent educational institutions. As part of this contingency plan, schools in North 24 Parganas district were provided with detailed Excel sheets requiring comprehensive information about staff allocations for SIR duties.
A headmaster from a central Kolkata school expressed serious concerns about this arrangement, stating: "We are already experiencing severe teacher shortage due to the ongoing SIR exercise. During the meeting, we were instructed to send teachers to neighboring schools for invigilation duties, but currently, only three teachers including myself are managing our entire institution. This creates an impossible dilemma - whom should I assign for additional duties, and how will our school continue functioning effectively?"
Creative Solutions and Administrative Challenges
Multiple school heads reportedly requested special holidays to manage the staffing crisis during the examination period. Another headmaster revealed the extent of the problem: "Over ten teachers from our institution are engaged in SIR duties, while another ten have been assigned invigilation responsibilities in two neighboring schools. This leaves us with only skeleton staff during the Madhyamik examinations. To address this critical situation, we have approached retired teachers and alumni to conduct classes temporarily; otherwise, normal school operations would become impossible during examination days."
A headmistress from North 24 Parganas district echoed similar concerns, explaining: "We too received instructions to assign teachers for invigilation duties, but if we release our limited teaching staff, we would have no alternative but to temporarily close the school."
Broader Implications and Election Commission Involvement
The state school education department has formally approached the Election Commission with a request to release teachers and officials for both Madhyamik and Higher Secondary examinations, which are scheduled consecutively beginning February 2nd. The Madhyamik examinations are scheduled from February 2 to February 12, followed immediately by HS examinations from February 12 to February 27.
This staffing crisis stems from the deployment of over 80,000 booth-level officers for SIR duties since November 4th, with a substantial majority being teachers from state-run schools. The simultaneous demands of election-related responsibilities and crucial board examinations have created an unprecedented administrative challenge for Kolkata's education system, forcing institutions to implement creative but potentially disruptive solutions to maintain both electoral and educational processes.
