Odisha Govt Renames ‘Teacher On Call’ Scheme

Bhubaneswar: After receiving flak for its ‘teacher on call’ scheme, the Odisha government has renamed the scheme as Atithi Sikhyak (guest teacher).

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP had criticized the state government for the teacher on call scheme.

Plagued with the shortage of teachers in government-run secondary schools across the state, the school and mass education department in August launched the scheme to appoint retired school teachers on a contractual basis.

The BJP, however, criticized the government saying the teachers are not like taxi drivers of Ola and Uber that they would attend the classes on call. A teacher appointed under the scheme would be paid Rs 10,000 per month in addition to his/her pension money.

The appointed teachers have to teach at least 20 days (excluding government holidays) every month.