Close to 5,000 teachers registered on the Shiksha Setu portal under the Department of School Education in Assam have been found absent for a long time, a notification released on Thursday claimed. The notification sought a report from the inspectors of schools and DEEOs of the districts after physical verification of the presence of the teachers.

As per the notification, as many as 4,907 teachers from 33 districts of Assam have been found absent on the Shiksha Setu portal with over 400 teachers – the most – from Tinsukia district marked absent.

294 teachers from Kamrup metro district, 286 from Dhubri, 259 from Nagaon, and 245 from Goalpara have been marked absent on the portal for a long time bringing the matter to the notice of authorities.

As such, IAS Narayan Saikia, serving as a secretary to the Assam government, directed school inspectors and DEEOs to physically verify the existence of these teachers and submit a report by Friday (July 5). Additionally, the notification mentioned the possibility of withholding of salaries of the teachers till the submission of the report.