GURGAON: Statewide Nipun assessments for students from classes I-IV began Tuesday, but the flagship foundational learning exercise failed to take off in more than half of the city’s govt primary schools because a number of teachers are deployed on Special Intensive Revision (SIR) or Census duty.Under the state’s implementation of National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (Nipun), every child’s response is recorded digitally through an app that can only be accessed using the login credentials of the regular class teacher. With a large section of teachers away from classrooms since May, many schools are unable to even open the assessment platform, forcing authorities to postpone examinations.At Badshapur’s Govt Primary School and Govt Girls Primary School, all eight sanctioned teachers have been deployed on SIR duty. Staff say repeated requests for temporary replacements have yielded no relief.“No classes have been held since the new academic session began in July. Children have been attending only to receive midday meals. We have repeatedly requested the SDM’s office to provide us with staff, but no arrangements have been made,” says Bijender Khatana, a Govt Primary School teacher on SIR duty.At Govt Model Sanskriti Primary School, Fazilpur Jharsa, 19 of 20 teachers have been assigned non-teaching work, leaving head teacher Mukesh Yadav to manage 780 students across 21 sections alone. “I have written letters to every department concerned informing them of the situation. I cannot possibly supervise every child. The students are getting into fights because there aren’t enough adults to monitor them,” he says.Yadav says classroom teaching effectively stopped in May. “Parents, often 20 to 30 of them, come every day, understandably angry because their children are not getting a proper education,” he says. “The department is now asking us to conduct the Nipun assessment. But how can I leave hundreds of children unattended while conducting the exam on a tablet?”Govt Primary School, Sarai Alawardi, is facing a similar situation, with two teachers left to handle 250 students. Sushila Kumari, a teacher, says the digital examination has also been stalled as schools cannot conduct the Nipun assessment without the regular class teacher’s unique ID and password.Teachers on SIR duty have largely refused to share their credentials, fearing that granting access could affect their service records and the ongoing statewide transfer process, since the same digital profiles are linked to postings and personnel data.Ashok Prajapati, district president of Haryana Govt Primary Teachers Association, warns that continued deployment of teachers on SIR, census and other administrative duties could push parents towards private schools. “If govt schools continue functioning without adequate teachers, parents will lose confidence in the system. The resulting decline in enrolment could eventually force closures,” he says.The association accused the state of prioritising administrative surveys over classroom teaching and questioned how examinations could be scheduled in institutes that have been forced to function without teachers for months. It has demanded the immediate return of staff from non-teaching duties and urged govt to suspend Nipun assessments until regular classes are restored.Dushyant Thakran, a teacher, says the assessment has exposed a basic contradiction in the system. “We are being asked to generate data about how much a child has learnt, but the real question is how much teaching that child has actually received. If teachers are sent off for months, conducting an assessment does not tell the true story of learning; it only produces numbers on a portal,” he says.“A child cannot be prepared through self-study alone. Before asking us to conduct the assessment, the department should ensure there is a teacher in every classroom,” he adds.SDM Hitendra Kumar says head teachers or principals of schools facing serious difficulties during Nipun assessment due to a shortage of staff should approach the administration. He says depending on the requirements, teachers deployed on SIR duty can be released and replaced.
