GADAG: The headmaster of the Government High School at BS Beleri village in Gadag district was caught on camera busy fiddling with his mobile phone even as the mathematics class that he is supposed to handle for Class 10 students was being conducted by the school peon.
Shockingly, the headmaster defended it by praising the peon and saying that the latter was more “eligible” to teach mathematics than him.
The Secondary School Leaving Certificate is important as the students will be appearing for the board exams.
As most of the villages were hit by the recent floods, the Department of Public Instruction has asked the authorities to run the schools for additional hours to cover the syllabus.
The Government High School at BS Beleri village has 65 students, eight teachers, one guest teacher and a headmaster.
As many as 25 students are studying in Class 10. While other classes are being conducted by other staffers, the mathematics class was being conducted by school peon Mallesh instead of headmaster B M Kataraki.
It is a daily affair in the school and has been going on from the last four months.
The headmaster’s ‘careless approach’ has not gone well with the villagers who are demanding serious action against him.
They say that they cannot put their children’s future at risk as there are multiple complaints of the headmaster being busy with his mobile phone during class hours.
They say that they cannot put their children’s future at risk as there are multiple complaints of the school headmaster being busy with his mobile phone during class hours.
Headmaster Kataraki defended his action and has heaped praise on peon Mallesh.
“The peon is good in Mathematics and he teaches well, so I have asked him to take the classes. Allegations slammed against me for being busy in the mobile phone during class hours are false,” he said.
As the mobile phone is commonly used as a medium to communicate with higher officials, he used to take a glance at them now and then, he added. However, the students’ version is diametrically opposite to what the headmaster claims.
“Peon Mallesh is taking classes to complete the syllabus. The headmaster is busy with his mobile most of the time. The peon has been teaching us for the last four months,” a student said.
While the issue was brought before Block Education Officer N Nanjudayya, he claimed to be unaware about the issue.