Chandigarh, April 29: Academic activity in Chandigarh’s government schools has slowed as more than half of the teaching workforce remains absent to undergo training for the 2027 Census. A total of 2,700 teachers are currently being trained in 60 separate batches to serve as the backbone of the upcoming national enumeration project, a process slated to continue through April 30.
School heads have reported using various strategies to keep campuses functional, including the use of online classes for senior students and the merging of multiple class sections. Seema Rani, principal of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 16, stated that the school pre-planned its response by roping in Samagra Shiksha and contractual teachers. Despite these efforts, teachers speaking anonymously maintained that proper course studies have been impossible to maintain under the current adjustment system.
The timing of the deployment has also brought the city’s educational performance back into focus. Recent board results showed steep declines in several sectors, with some schools struggling to reach a 33% pass rate. Education advocates affirmed that diverting such a large percentage of the workforce for non-teaching duties may exacerbate these performance gaps. Director of School Education Nitish Singla declared that the administration is aware of the situation and maintained that compensatory measures would be introduced to bridge the learning gap.
Tensions are also rising regarding the requirement for teachers to conduct field work after their 2 pm school shifts. Educators declared that the schedule is practically unsustainable and have called for a hybrid rotation model. Despite these grievances, the administration asserted its authority by seeking formal explanations from dozens of teachers who skipped the training, reinforcing that participation in the census remains a mandatory obligation.
