Bhogi celebrations a far cry for students and teachers from afar

Similarly, teachers, who are working in government and government-aided schools away from their natives in the State too are facing the same problem.Adding to the woes of the teachers, the School Education Department had recently imposed stringent rules in availing leave without a valid reason.

A senior official from the School Education Department told DT Next that there are about 20 Adi Dravidar Welfare hostels in each district, which are functioning under the control of Adi Dravidar Welfare Department. 

“These hostels accommodate more than 10,000 students studying in various government-aided schools across the State,” he added. Pointing out that last year the government had announced holiday for Bhogi also, the official said: “this year, it (holiday) could not be declared since this academic year students have already got more holidays than usual and the teachers are finding it difficult to complete portions in time”.

Another official from the Tamil Nadu Teachers Recruitment Board said that currently, more than 20,000 government school teachers are working in different places outside their native region.

“Since the government schools will be closing at 4.30 pm on Tuesday, both students and teachers will have to rush to their natives to celebrate Pongal,” said PK Ilamaran of Tamil Nadu Teachers Association.

Stating that his association had already demanded before the government that January 14 should be declared a holiday, he pointed out that many of the teachers, who are working in Chennai, are coming from far-flung areas.

“Of the total teachers working in government and government-aided schools, nearly 60 per cent of them are working outside their native region,” said Ilamaram adding that even hundreds of students will have to travel a long distance to reach native place.