Andhra Pradesh United Teachers’ Federation (APUTF) leaders on Tuesday urged teachers across the state to participate in large numbers in the proposed demonstration at the Director of School Education’s office in Ibrahimpatnam on April 12 and lead them to success.
In a statement, Federation President N. Venkateswarlu and Secretary General KSS Prasad said the teaching community was bogged down by several issues.
As in any other sector, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the education sector. Schools were closed, exams canceled and students were denied access to education. Although the government tried to reach them through online courses, a large number of students remained outside the realm of the new form of education because they did not have access to the internet or even smartphones.
Schools reopened after the first wave of the pandemic saw a significant decline. However, the number of apps introduced by school education authorities increased, burdening teachers with a variety of non-teaching activities. They said there are separate apps for student and teacher attendance, for programs like Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, Amma Vodi and, among other things, for distributing the dry ration to students.
They said the situation was worse in schools with single teachers who had little time to teach the students. Teachers granted transfers have had their salaries stripped in recent months and there have been many other issues that needed to be addressed on a war basis, they said.