School Struggles as All Full-Time Teachers Deployed for Poll Duty

Soumitra Nandi, MP, 31 Oct 2025, Kolkata: The headmaster of a state primary school in Murshidabad is facing a tough challenge to continue academic activities, as all the full-time teachers at the school have been engaged as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) by the Election Commission (EC).

Mridadpur Primary School at Lalgola in Murshidabad has 5 full-time teachers, including its headmaster and 4 assistant teachers. All of them have been assigned BLO duties. The school, which has 815 students, also employs 3 para teachers. These para teachers typically teach students in classes I and II, which means students in classes III to V will bear the brunt of the full-time teachers’ engagement as BLOs.

The Election Commission has already begun training for the BLOs, and from November 4 to December 4, they will have to go door-to-door along with an enumeration form as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). This process is one of the key tasks assigned by the poll panel.

“The letter of appointment as BLOs reached us before the Puja vacation, and we immediately communicated the issue to the top brass of the Primary Board and also to the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). However, we have received no response until now,” said Saroj Halder, the headmaster of the school.

The school’s annual examination is scheduled to be held soon, raising concerns among parents about the academic progress of their children. The supervision of the mid-day meal distribution in the school is also expected to suffer due to the shortage of teachers.

According to a top administrative official in the school, the shortage of teachers has been a long-standing issue, which has been raised before the district primary council chairman on more than one occasion. Now, with all the full-time teachers being engaged in election duty, the continuation of academics has become a major challenge.