Tripura Congress flags 18,000 teacher vacancies, seeks relief from census, BLO duties

The Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) has urged the state government to exempt government school teachers from the upcoming Census 2027 exercise, arguing that the acute shortage of teaching staff has already affected the quality of education across the state.

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Manik Saha, TPCC president Asish Kumar Saha requested that educated contractual staff be engaged for census-related work instead of teachers.

Highlighting the shortage of educators, Saha said nearly 18,000 teaching posts across various levels in the Education Department remain vacant, while more than 450 government schools are functioning with only a single teacher, citing findings by NITI Aayog.

"The state government frequently speaks about improving education, but the growing shortage of teachers is placing an enormous burden on those currently in service. Teachers should primarily focus on educating students rather than being repeatedly assigned administrative responsibilities," Saha said.

He claimed that the continued deployment of teachers for government assignments, including election and census duties, has adversely impacted students, parents and the overall education system.

The first phase of the Census 2027—house listing and house enumeration—is scheduled to be conducted in Tripura from August 1 to August 30.

Saha also urged the government to relieve teachers from their responsibilities as Booth Level Officers (BLOs), saying the move would allow them to devote more time to classroom teaching and improve educational outcomes.

The Congress leader further expressed concern over the recent Supreme Court verdict requiring in-service government teachers to possess a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) qualification. He warned that if implemented without any relaxation, the ruling could affect nearly 10,000 government teachers in Tripura, aggravating the existing shortage of educators.

He appealed to the state government to take up the matter with the Centre and seek an amicable solution to safeguard the interests of teachers and the education sector.

Saha also called for an immediate and transparent recruitment drive to fill vacant teaching posts, stating that strengthening the education system should take precedence over assigning teachers to non-academic government duties.