Chandigarh, April 29 -- More than half of Chandigarh's government school teachers have been absent from classrooms since April 18. Reason: Census 2027 training.

The city has roughly 37,000 teachers, including Samagra Shiksha teachers, out of which, 2,700 (58%) have been deputed as supervisors and enumerators for Census 2027, and put through an intensive three-day training programme, running in 60 batches.

For nearly two weeks, portions of government schools have been left without their regular teaching staff. The training will continue till April 30, with the actual Census set to begin from May 1.

A government school teacher, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said, "During the three-day training sessions, schools have been entire...