PATNA: The state education department has directed the district education officers (DEOs) concerned to take departmental action against the 124 teachers of government and government-aided primary schools who were found absent during an inspection by block education officers (BEOs) and DEOs on August 9.Director (primary education) Arvind Kumar Verma, in a letter on August 14, also asked the DEOs to serve show-cause notices to the erring teachers. “The teachers will be given a week to revert... Action will be taken if their replies to the notices are found unsatisfactory,” Verma told this reporter on Thursday and added the DEOs had also been asked to deduct the day’s salary of erring teachers.According to sources, the surprise inspection was carried out at 393 primary schools in 24 districts. While 16 teachers were found absent in East Champaran, 13 each were not on duty in Begusarai and Purnia.The number of “missing” teachers was 10 in Vaishali, eight each in Bhojpur, Saran and Siwan; five each in Arwal, Darbhanga and Jamui; four in Muzaffarpur; three each in Nawada and Sitamarhi; two each in Kaimur, Nalanda, Patna and Sheohar and one each in Banka, Jehanabad, Madhepura, Munger, Rohtas and Saharsa districts.“The DEOs and BEOs, after the inspection, also reported that 77,040 of the 1.76 lakh students on the rolls in the 393 schools were absent on the day. We have taken a serious note of this as well,” Verma said and added 327 of the 3,609 teachers, whose services were found below average, would be trained afresh.Patna DEO Jyoti Kumar said the basic facilities at the primary schools were also reviewed. “Altogether 331 schools were found to have functional toilets. The quality of midday meal was good in 359 schools,” Kumar said.

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