SP MP raises concern over disruption of teaching in UP primary schools due to SIR work

Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Javed Ali Khan on Thursday said teaching activities in primary schools in Uttar Pradesh have been severely affected as teachers are being assigned to non-academic duties, including the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Upper House, Khan said a large number of teachers have been engaged in the SIR exercise for several months, leaving classrooms without regular instruction.

“The government network of primary education in Uttar Pradesh has almost collapsed. Teaching is not taking place in schools,” Khan said.

He also highlighted the issue of large vacancies in the state’s primary education system.

According to Khan, out of approximately 4.18 lakh sanctioned permanent teacher posts in Uttar Pradesh, around 85,000 positions remain vacant.

The MP also referred to the working conditions of nearly 1.5 lakh Shiksha Mitras, who he said are serving in schools on relatively low salaries.

Teachers assigned non-academic duties

Khan said the shortage of teachers has been compounded by the assignment of existing staff to non-teaching responsibilities.

“For the last five months all teachers have been engaged with SIR. No teaching work is taking place anywhere,” he said.

Besides the electoral roll revision exercise, teachers are also required to perform duties related to census operations, ration card verification and other administrative tasks, he added.

Citing a high court order, the Samajwadi Party member demanded that primary school teachers should not be assigned non-academic work except in situations related to disaster management.

Other issues raised during Zero Hour

During the same Zero Hour session, Shiv Sena (SS-UBT) MP Sanjay Raut called for the creation of a Legislative Assembly for the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu to ensure democratic representation for residents.

Bharatiya Janata Party MP Paka Venkata Satyanarayana also spoke on the need for stronger accountability and greater local utilisation of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) funds by private companies.