CHENNAI: The recent announcement by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to introduce an SMS-based monitoring system to ensure attendance of teachers in government schools has obviously put the teachers in a tight spot. Even as the noble profession’s practitioners are fuming over this sudden need for regulation, educationists and parents are measured in their reaction, stating that the initiative, though well-intentioned, is not fool-proof. Impressed by a presentation made by Cuddalore District Collector V Amuthavalli, the CM recently announced that an SMS-tracking system to ensure the attendance of teachers in all government schools would soon be introduced across the state. Under this system, the headmasters of every school would have to send an SMS to a designated number every morning reporting the staff strength for the day. The school will carry its unique code, and the compilation of this report would be made available for scrutiny to the Chief Educational Officer and District Educational Officer. The National Infomatics Centre will use a software to convert the SMSes to text documents for this purpose. This system, being enforced in Cuddalore since July this year, is expected to be extended across the state soon.However, recipients of this sudden form of scrutiny — the teachers — are a peeved lot. “Why should it be only teachers who are subject to this form of double-checking? If the goal is to ensure that the public is benefitted, then why not introduce it first in Primary Health Care Centres with doctors,” says a teacher in a government school in the city, on condition of anonymity. She was echoing the sentiments of teachers in the Cuddalore district, who protested the initiative vehemently, calling it unfair if it was introduced only among the teaching fraternity. Also, if the list of defaulting teachers was being handed over to an official within the education department itself, it is possible that no stringent action will be taken, says Mallika, mother of a Class 6 student in a government school here, questioning the effectiveness of such a measure.“The state has appointed District Education Officers and Assistant Education Officers for the purpose of ensuring teacher attendance. There are also Block Resource Teachers and Supervisors in every block to ensure that the education of students is carried on without hassles. Then, why should another layer of scrutiny be added?” asks V Annamalai, South Zonal Secretary of the All India Teachers Federation. “The scheme seems poised to reach government and government-aided schools and teachers will soon present a memo to the CM on the issue,” he adds. There are 3,75,000 teachers in the state in government and government-aided schools.Renowned educationist SS Rajagopalan says that such a regulation should only be self-imposed to be successful. As per the statute, any District Educational Officer should have only 30 schools to inspect. “But upon verification, we found that one district in the state has 136 schools coming under the purview of a DEO. We should strengthen the inspectorates for the healthy functioning of the system, instead of introducing another line of supervision,” he says.
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