Addiction to Candy Crush costs UP teacher his job

Suspended for playing mobile game and talking on his phone during duty hours

Sambhal: Addiction to the mobile game Candy Crush cost a teacher in an Uttar Pradesh government school his job.

The teacher has been suspended for playing Candy Crush on his phone and talking on the device during duty hours.

The incident came to light when District Magistrate Rajendra Pansiya went to the school for a random check, and found scores of mistakes in students’ copies starting from the first page to the last.

Later, a feature on the teacher’s phone, which tracked hours dedicated to applications, revealed that he spent nearly two hours playing Candy Crush during school hours.

“Teachers should focus on checking the classwork and homework of students, and ensure that they get quality education. Also, using mobile phones is not a problem, but using them for personal reasons during school hours is not right,” the District Magistrate told reporters.

Pansiya checked six pages of six students’ copies, and spotted 95 mistakes, with nine being on the first page itself. He expressed displeasure about this and checked assistant teacher Priyam Goyal’s phone.

The Digital Wellbeing feature on the teacher’s phone then revealed that of the five-and-half hours of school hours, Priyam Goyal spent nearly two hours playing Candy Crush, talked on the phone for 26 minutes, and used social media apps for almost 30 minutes.

The District Magistrate apprised the state education department of the matter, who took cognisance of the same and suspended the assistant teacher.