Election Duty Pulls All Regular Teachers from Two Delhi Government Schools

NEW DELHI: The entire regular teaching staff of two Delhi government schools has been deployed for booth-level officer (BLO) duties during the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, raising concerns about disruption to classroom teaching.

According to a school official who spoke on condition of anonymity, one school in Bhalswa has around 1,200 students and approximately 20 regular teachers, all of whom have been assigned SIR work. Only 15 guest teachers remain to conduct classes across 22 sections. Similarly, a school near GTB Nagar has 22 teachers on BLO duty, leaving no regular staff for academic work.

The official said, 'It will be very difficult to teach students till October. Academic loss is inevitable.' The official argued that election duties should be distributed evenly across schools so that no single institution loses a substantial portion of its teaching staff.

Educators have expressed concern that the large-scale deployment could significantly disrupt education, with students bearing the brunt of the staff shortage. They have called for a more balanced approach that ensures both election work and schooling continue smoothly.

An office order accessed by this publication, signed by the sub-divisional magistrate/electoral registration officer (SDM/ERO) of Badli, details manpower requirements for nine teachers from the Bhalswa school. It states that volunteers may be required to perform full-time election duties at Voter Centres or ERO offices, including data entry, form scrutiny, clerical work and BLO-related tasks under SIR, even after normal office hours. Responsibilities include verifying Forms 6 and 8, assisting in draft electoral roll preparation and other election-related work assigned by the ERO or AERO. The order warns that any negligence, delay, absence or non-compliance will be viewed seriously and action taken as per applicable rules.

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood said the government will ensure that neither the SIR exercise nor students' education suffers. 'If by chance such anomalies have come up in some schools, we will rectify them. We have stated that teachers will be paid for election work so that they get relief and the process goes on smoothly. Even after that, if we find any problems in the system, we will work towards improving these.' He called the SIR exercise a national responsibility and said the government would consider representations from teachers and address their concerns.

Earlier this week, the Government School Teachers' Association (GSTA) wrote to the Delhi government stating that prolonged deployment of teachers for election work would leave schools short-staffed during a crucial academic period. General Secretary Ajay Veer Yadav wrote, 'A substantial number of trained teachers have been deployed as BLOs and BLO supervisors for the SIR exercise. Consequently, the absence of thousands of teachers from schools is likely to adversely affect the education of lakhs of students. Such academic loss cannot be adequately compensated at a later stage.' The association urged the immediate appointment of guest teachers to fill vacancies created by SIR duties.