School teachers in Kozhikode district who are engaged in census duty are racing against time to complete syllabus portions for the Onam exams that are scheduled to begin on August 13.

The month-long census exercise is supposed to culminate on July 31. Of the 18,000 teachers in the district, almost 11,000 are on duty. Some of the teachers The Hindu spoke to on Monday (July 27) said it could be impossible for them to complete all the chapters before the exams.

According to sources, an official directive issued earlier was to limit the number of teachers to be deployed at 50% of the total strength of the teaching staff. However, in most schools, this was not followed, and a majority of them are on duty. There is a school in Kunnamangalam, where 21 of the 30 staff are engaged in the exercise. Also, though the previous plan was to allot 150 to 200 houses to each enumerator, the number has gone up to 400 or above in some places.

N. Santhosh Kumar, district president of the pro-Left Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA), said that teachers’ organisations had urged the government, ahead of the launch of the exercise, to ensure that studies were not affected because of the deployment of teachers. “During the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, many teachers were given booth-level officer duties. The previous Left Democratic Front government allowed the appointment of temporary teachers so that the academic sessions were not disrupted. Though we had requested the United Democratic Front government to follow a similar method, it was not considered,” he claimed.

Some of the teachers said they were told to do the census duty before 9 a.m. and after 4 p.m. – before the classes begin and after they end. “It is difficult for teachers, especially women, who travel up to 50 km to work, to follow this schedule. They would have to start their day at 5 a.m. and return around 10 p.m.,” said a teacher, who did not wish to be quoted. The government has allowed them to either take 10 full days to complete the job or go for half-day duty for 20 days.

Another teacher from Feroke said that she had been doing the duty only on Saturdays and Sundays and after school hours. “But I can do this because my area of work is near my home. Those who have been allotted far-off places don’t have that luxury. Their syllabus portions are still pending. Along with this, we have had a couple of holidays this month,” she added. The teachers are forced to visit some houses more than once if the residents are not to be found there. They also said that even after returning home, much time is spent on entering the collected details online

Meanwhile, official sources said that the General Education department is firm that the syllabus portions are completed before the exams. The teachers said that the government would have to take a call on cutting down on the portions to avoid overburdening students.

Published - July 27, 2026 07:29 pm IST