In the Jamui district of Bihar, 13 teachers incurred salary deductions after being deemed absent and chastised for “bed performance” instead of “bad performance” owing to a typing error. This triggered protests from teaching associations. On the 22nd of May education department officials carried out surprise inspections at several schools in Jamui. During the inspections, numerous teachers were absent and many more performed poorly.
Taking note of the absence and unsatisfactory performance of such teachers, the local district education officer (DEO) released an official letter detailing the action taken against the negligent teachers. More than the erring teachers, the letter ended up exposing the Bihar education department’s “bad performance”.
According to the letter, 13 teachers had their salaries cut for “bed performance”. As the letter went viral on social media, the DEO’s office soon issued a clarification. “Bad performance was mistakenly typed as ‘bed performance’ due to a typing error” according to the DEO.
Hahaha… मास्टर साहबों के वेतन bed performance पर काटने का आदेश हुआ था। अब bed को Bad performance से रिप्लेस कर दिया गया है। धन्य हो। pic.twitter.com/vPPJwRCI0m
— Akhilesh Singh (@akhileshsi1) May 28, 2024
निरीक्षण कार्य से अनुपस्थित तथा *Bed Performance करने वाले टोला सेवक का वेतन कटा। पैसे देकर एजेंसी द्वारा बहाल डाटा एंट्री ऑपरेटर हाल देखिए.. ? pic.twitter.com/A0OcIwPKHy
— Educators of Bihar (@BiharTeacherCan) May 23, 2024
Meanwhile, teaching associations have voiced concern that such mistakes undermine the department’s credibility and teachers’ dignity.
The concerned authorities have assured to take steps to prevent similar blunders in the future and prioritise increasing education quality in the district. Reports say that affected teachers will get their deducted salary once the correction is officially acknowledged.
