Special officers of KGBV bear extra burden as hostel warden

Hyderabad: Recently the Education department issued orders stating that the Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya (KGBV) special officers will be taking over as the warden in-charges of the model schoolgirls' hostels. The orders raised concern, as this extra task will burden them.

The orders, issued by the Director of School Education, stated that the principals of model school are relieved from their duties as overall in- charges of the girls' hostels attached to the model Schools with immediate effect. Temporarily the special officers of KGBV schools will be in-charge of the respective model schoolgirls' hostels. On the condition of anonymity, a staffer of a KGBV, said, "first off all in KGBV schools there is a staff crunch. Somehow, we are managing the academics and residential services of schools. Now suddenly I have been asked to even to manage the model school girl hostel service. I'm in a dilemma how will I manage both. It will be better if the department appoints staff in both model schools and KGBV."

Anitha Reedy, principal of KGBV, said," the government should once again re-think of the order. We are told to join as an in-charges immediately at model schools. This is an additional burden. The rules and regulations of the model schools and KGBV are totally different. We urge the State government to appoint permanent wardens for girls' hostels. instead of making temporary arrangements and appointing a warden in-charge."

M Ravindar, general secretary, Telangana Progressive Teachers' Federation (TPTF), said, "by appointing temporary in-charges, the government is running away from its responsibilities. It is a matter of safety and security of girls. As this will not solve the problem and will simply add to the burden of the KGBV staff. The special officer and a woman teacher have to manage the academic and residential services of the respective KGBV school. In addition, the teacher will have to look after the administrative and financial activities of the nearby model school girls' hostel. Why the government is not recruiting more teachers when there are around 25,000 vacancies across the State, he asked.