Editor,
In Arunachal Pradesh, the teaching profession is increasingly viewed not as a calling, but as the ultimate ‘safe haven’ – a job with high salaries, immense social status, and seemingly minimal accountability. But before we blame the students for poor results, we must mathematically audit the teachers.
When we strip away the holidays, the celebrations, and the leaves, how many days does a teacher actually hold a piece of chalk and teach?
The calculation is startling. It suggests that our education system is operating on a part-time basis (less than 150 days) while the public pays full-time taxes.
The zero-teaching audit (annual breakdown)
Let us look at the hard numbers of a standard 365-day year and deduct every day when actual classroom teaching does not happen.
Category of non-teaching days: Sundays (52 days); 2nd Saturdays (12 days); gazetted holidays (18 days); local/restricted holidays (10 days); school weeks (12 days); summer and winter vacations (50 days); examination days (30 days); evaluation & result prep (10 days); casual leave (8 days); earned leave (20 days); bandhs/strikes/unexpected events (10 days).
The final equation: Total days in year: 365; minus non-teaching Days: 232; actual teaching days 133.
Note: If a teacher is deputed for election duty, census, or training, this number drops even further, easily falling below 120 days.
Attendance vs teaching
We are left with roughly 100 to 150 days of potential teaching. But here is the most critical question: In those remaining 150 days, are the teachers actually teaching, or are they just ‘present’?
We have all seen the reality:
- Late entry/early exit: A 10 am start often becomes 10:30 am.
- Staff room politics: Hours spent sipping tea and discussing politics instead of lesson planning.
- The ‘free period’ culture: Teachers skipping classes or letting students ‘self-study’ while they relax.
If a teacher is physically present for 150 days but only teaches with sincerity for half of that time, then our students are receiving barely 75 days of real education in a year.
Conclusion:
Is it any wonder that despite 100% salaries, we are seeing 10% results? The system has become a cycle where the primary goal is not student welfare but maximising holidays and salary.
To the teachers of Arunachal Pradesh: You are the guardians of our future. When you take that salary, you make a contract with the future generation. If you cannot give more than 150 days of honest work, you are not building the state; you are dismantling it.
The public asks: Are you doing your duty, or just marking your attendance?
A concerned citizen