Thursday 20 March 2014

Teachers turning into insurance agents in Doti

School teachers in Doti are busy these days working as agents of different insurance companies.

As a result, classes have been affected as teachers devote more time and effort to finding new customers for their insurance companies. "The commission offered by insurance companies has lured teachers into giving more time to roping in new customers at the cost of teaching," Sopan Rawal said, adding, "Their focus now is solely to convince the students’ parents to insure."

According to locals, teachers in all the schools in Doti are now associated with either one or the other insurance company. "As teachers wander around the village seeking new customers, students’ education has been badly hit," Hem Bahadur Thapa complained.

Results show that quality of education has deteriorated in all levels in the district in the last three years. Pass percentage in Grade XI this year declined by 50 per cent compared to last year. SLC result last year was dismal.

School Inspector Kesav Gyawali of District Education Office, Doti, said it was condemnable that teachers should skip classes to work for insurance companies. He also admitted that even the staff at the DEO were working as agents of various insurance companies.

Finding it a lucrative profession, some temporary teachers have quit teaching and started working as insurance agents. One such teacher, Chhatra Bahadur Jora said, "I earned in a year what I could not have earned in five years as a teacher."

Dipayal-based Asina Life Insurance alone has more than 100 teachers as agents. Different insurance companies, including Asian Life Insurance, Prime Life, and National Life have launched a campaign to make new customers.

Source The Himalayan Times




 

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