Unrest festers among teacher unions

Wanaparthy: Allegations of corruption continue to build at the district education wing here in Wanaparthy. Some teachers have stuck to positions in the DEO office for years under the guise of ‘additional responsibilities,’ neglecting their school duties. The DEO himself, who should be steering the education system, is accused of engaging in irregularities. Moreover, some teacher unions are allegedly backing him while targeting honest workers.

The attempts by the DEO and a teacher union leader to remove the DCEB secretary from his role have shocked many in the district. The DEO appears to favour those who pay commissions and won’t question him, creating unrest among other teacher unions.

Some teachers and headmasters have been assigned additional duties in the DEO office, which they are expected to carry out after school hours or only during pressing needs.

However, in Wanaparthy, many of these teachers and HMs have completely abandoned their school responsibilities. Education officials are allegedly ignoring this, and instead, are harassing honest workers using ‘rules’ as a weapon.

Ravinder Reddy, an English school assistant at ZPHS Boys School in the town, has been handling open school coordination duties from 2018. He doesn’t even have regular classes assigned and signs an attendance register placed illegally in the DEO office, drawing his salary from ZPHS Boys School. Srinivasulu, a bio-Science SA at UPS Rayinipet (Kothakota mandal), has been working as the district science officer from 2019. He allegedly uses the annual science fair as an excuse to spend the entire year in the DEO’s office, ignoring his school. He is accused of interfering in unrelated activities, but the DEO’s backing protects him.

Krishnamurthy, an SGT at PS Chintakunta (Panagal mandal), has been stationed in the DEO’s office for two years, even though there’s no official clerk vacancy. He was apparently placed there via lobbying by a prominent teacher union.

Allegedly, he serves as a conduit of sensitive DEO office information to the union, yet complaints to the DEO and district collector for his removal have yielded no action.

Despite many teachers and HMs serving in the DEO office long-term, only the DCEB Secretary is being targeted by one teacher union. It’s rumoured that the secretary is being removed because he obstructs corrupt activities.

Reportedly, retired and current teachers have approached local MLA Thudi Megha Reddy, who assured them of necessary action.