Bihar Civic Body Asks Teachers to Track Stray Dogs in Schools

In a controversial move that has further strained the already overburdened teaching community in Bihar, the Sasaram Municipal Corporation in Rohtas district has mandated that all schools within its limits appoint a dedicated nodal officer—typically a full-time teacher—to systematically collect and submit detailed information on stray dogs present on and around school campuses.

The official directive requires these nodal officers to enumerate the stray dog population, evaluate their health and behavioural conditions, identify potential risks to students and staff, and propose localised measures for population control, as the civic body gears up to establish a dedicated dog pound and implement broader sterilisation and management programmes.

Municipal Commissioner Vikas Kumar justified the order by emphasising its alignment with higher government directives aimed at addressing the growing menace of stray dogs through accurate, locality-specific data, asserting that involving educational institutions ensures comprehensive coverage at the grassroots level without deploying additional municipal staff.

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Educators have reacted with widespread frustration and indignation, arguing that this latest imposition compounds an existing pattern of diverting teachers from core pedagogical duties to miscellaneous administrative and survey tasks, including national census operations, election-related Booth Level Officer responsibilities, caste-based enumeration drives, and various other governmental data-collection exercises.

This development has amplified longstanding criticisms of administrative practices in Bihar's education sector, where chronic teacher shortages, frequent classroom disruptions due to non-academic assignments, and persistent infrastructural challenges continue to undermine teaching quality, student engagement, and overall learning outcomes across the state.

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