Out of 40 teachers in Monggar Lower Secondary School, 10 of them are breastfeeding mothers which means a quarter of the teaching staff will take-off on Pedestrian day if the circular is followed. The cabinet secretariat had issued a recently circular which states that all breastfeeding working mothers can work from home on the Pedestrian Day. But none of these mothers have been allowed to stay away from school.
A 36-year-old mother, Ngawang Choden lives a few kilometers away from the school at Yagang. Every Tuesday, she walks over an hour to go to school and another hour to return home. She says feeding her 14 months old baby and at the same time teaching especially on Tuesdays is a huge challenge.
“The circular is hardly being implemented,” says Ngawang Choden, “we mothers still come to school.” She says it isn’t an easy task to juggle between her baby, home and work at the same time.
The Principal of Monggar Lower Secondary School, Kinley Dorji, is happy that not a single teacher has asked for a day off on Pedestrian Day.
“Ours is different from other Ministries. We have to teach our students regularly, so the absence of one teacher would mean a lot of problem,” said Kinley Dorji.
One of the non-teaching staff of the school is also a breastfeeding mother, which takes the number to 11.
