After it was discovered that a government school teacher in Banaskantha district had been absent for years while living in the United States, the Gujarat education department took decisive action.
On Tuesday, the department announced plans to terminate the services of more than 150 teachers who have been absent from duty for over a year. Among these, 60 teachers are currently residing abroad, according to sources.
Deadline for Termination Set by Gujarat Education Department:
The department has instructed all district primary education and administrative officers to terminate these absentee teachers by August 19. Bhupendrasinh Vaghela, the District Primary Education Officer (DPEO) of Kutch, confirmed that 17 government primary teachers in the district would be terminated this week. These teachers had already received three show-cause notices.
Kutch district has the highest number of absentee teachers, with 17 cases reported. Twelve are women, and five are men.
While three teachers have settled abroad, others have cited medical, social, or personal reasons for their prolonged absence. Some teachers had officially taken charge after being transferred from other districts but remained absent.
Gandhinagar and Banaskantha Among Districts with Most Absentee Teachers:
According to data from the education department, Gandhinagar district currently has the most absent teachers abroad. Of the 15 absentee teachers in Gandhinagar, 13 are overseas.
Banaskantha district also has 10 such teachers. The district’s DPEO, Vinubhai Patel, stated that notices had been issued to these teachers, and their services would be terminated after a seven-day waiting period.
The recent crackdown follows a history of absenteeism among government school teachers in Gujarat. Between 2015 and 2020, over 350 primary and secondary school teachers were reported missing from duty without informing the government.
Of these, 99 were found to have gone abroad. Disciplinary actions resulted in the Termination of 128 teachers, and 70 others were served notices. Further actions between 2019 and 2022 led to the removal of 113 teachers from service.
Measures to Monitor Attendance by Gujarat Education Department:
In response to frequent complaints from parents about teachers not attending school, especially in rural areas, the state education department launched a centralized Command and Control Centre in Gandhinagar in June 2019.
Now known as Vidya Sameeksha Kendra, the center tracks the attendance of nearly 2.5 lakh teachers and 70 lakh students in over 42,000 government and aided schools. It also monitors the work of block and cluster resource coordinators and school inspectors through GPS-enabled tablets.
Per the department’s rules, a new teacher cannot be appointed, or an existing teacher transferred while on leave, as the post is not considered vacant.
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