2,000 BMC teachers roped in for block-level officer duty for Assembly polls

Mumbai: In view of the upcoming state assembly elections, the Election Commission (EC) has appointed 2,000 teachers from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and aided schools to carry out the duties of block-level officers (BLO) across the city.
Referring to the EC letter, the BMC education department’s order states that teachers will perform the duties of teaching from Monday to Wednesday, and will work as BLOs for the remaining three days. As per the order, the teachers were required to join election duty from Friday, but sources said very few did.
The appointment of a large number of teachers appointed for BLO duty has resulted in significant discontent among teachers and parents, who have raised concerns over academic losses. The teachers have been instructed to suspend various extracurricular educational activities such as additional lectures for students in classes 9 and 10, scholarship classes, and other school programmes in order to assist EC in preparing the voter lists.
From the first day of school, several teachers and principals were assigned BLO duties. These teachers are now expected to fulfil BLO responsibilities before and after regular school hours, including weekends and holidays.
Anil Bornare, vice-president of BJP Shikshak Aaghadi, said, “Given these circumstances, it is advisable for the Election Commission to refrain from involving teachers in such tasks. Instead, the provision of teachers for election-related work over the past five years should prompt the appointment of employees from other offices for future elections, allowing teachers to focus on their primary responsibilities. The condition of aided schools in Mumbai is critical, with a dwindling student population.”
A principal of BMC school pointed out that it would be very difficult to manage a school with fewer teachers. “This is the first time that such a huge number of teachers have been appointed for election duty. Otherwise, the number was between 500 and 1,000. This is the first unit test and mid-semester examination period. In my school, only two teachers will remain for three days to run nine classes from classes 1 to 8. How can I manage the teacher’s workload and give quality education to students,” he added.