Teachers to be appointed nodal officers in stray dog-related matter; associations raise concerns
New Delhi (PTI): Teachers in Delhi will be appointed as nodal officers in matters related to stray dogs around their educational institutions following directions issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE).
Teachers' associations, however, opposed the move, arguing that assigning such duties during the academic session could adversely affect teaching work, especially as pre-board examinations are currently underway in several schools.
According to a circular issued on December 5 by the DoE Caretaking Branch, district education officers have been directed to designate teachers as nodal officers for stray dog-related matters and submit their details to the directorate, which will forward the consolidated information to the chief secretary.
In North West A district, the deputy director of education has issued an order naming 118 teachers from different schools in the zone for the task. The order also mentions three teachers as nodal officers representing three zones.
As per the circular, compiled district-level reports are to be submitted, and replies from individual schools will not be accepted.
The details to be shared include the name, designation, contact number, and email ID of the nominated nodal officers from schools, stadiums and sports complexes under the district.
The nodal officers will act as point persons for stray dog-related issues and their details must be displayed prominently outside school buildings and other educational premises for public awareness, it stated.
The DoE said the move is linked to public safety and is being implemented in accordance with the Supreme Court's November 7 order and directions issued during a meeting held on November 20. The task has been marked as a top priority, the circular added.
Teachers' bodies, however, questioned why departments responsible for animal welfare are not handling the issue, cautioning that repeated non-academic assignments undermine the dignity of the teaching profession.
President of a government teachers' association, Sant Ram, said teachers have always extended their services whenever required, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, but deploying them for non-teaching duties during working days was unfair to students.
"If teachers are allowed to focus only on education during school days, it will be in the best interest of society and the country. Such duties can be assigned during vacations but diverting teachers during the academic session is an injustice to children," he said.
Similar directives involving the deployment of teachers for animal-related matters have been issued earlier in several states and Union territories, including Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
