Hubballi: A controversy has erupted over the decision made by Dharwad District Deputy Director of Public Instruction (DDPI) SS Keladimath to declare a school holiday for government, aided, and unaided schools, as well as high schools, in Dharwad Assembly constituency 71 on September 6th in celebration of Teachers’ Day. Traditionally, Teachers’ Day is widely observed on September 5th.
In a letter, the DDPI stated that this decision was based on the directive of the district-in-charge minister, issued during a progress review meeting held on August 25th. Additionally, it was mentioned that oral instructions from the Zilla Panchayat CEO also played a role in granting schools and high schools this holiday. It was suggested that any teaching hours lost due to the holiday would be compensated for by scheduling a class on holiday.
However, what has raised eyebrows is the fact that Teachers’ Day was actually celebrated on September 5th, with schools operating as usual on that day, and there was no official holiday declared for this occasion. The DDPI’s decision to grant a holiday on the following day, September 6th, has left many questioning the rationale behind it.
When questioned about the decision, DDPI Keladimath mentioned that Teachers’ Day could be celebrated within a month of September 5th. Nevertheless, he did not provide a clear explanation as to why schools were specifically declared closed on September 6th.
Sources suggest that the local Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) is celebrating Teachers’ Day in Savadatti on September 6th. To facilitate the attendance of teachers at this program, the decision to declare schools closed may have been made, however, Hubli Express did not verify this individually.
Efforts were made to obtain the opinion of Deputy Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde regarding this matter. However, as of the time of this news report, he had not responded to calls made by Hubli Express.
