UP teachers filmed Instagram Reels in schools, forced students to follow accounts

School teachers in UP have been accused of filming Reels in school (Representational image)

Primary school teachers in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district have been accused of filming Instagram Reels inside the school by their students. According to an India Today report, one or more teachers would feature in the videos, while the other would film them. They would then share the videos on an Instagram account called ‘RaviPooja’.

Students say that the teachers not only used teaching time for filming videos but also forced students to ‘like’, share and subscribe to their content – threatening them with corporal punishment if they refused to do so.

"The teacher records reels in school and pressurises students to like and share them. She also threatens to beat us if we don't do so," Annu, a student, told India Today.

Another student named Manisha alleged that the teachers also forced students to do their personal work like cook food, make tea and wash dishes.

The matter came to light when parents approached the District Magistrate (DM) seeking action against the government school teachers. The teachers named in the case are Ambika Goyal, Poonam Singh, Neetu Kashyap. All of them deny the charges against them, saying that they use school time only for teaching.

"We do not have any information about this. We teach children diligently during school time. We sometimes make videos during school time for children to learn," said Goyal, one of the accused teachers.

Students of the school have also levelled allegations of substandard teaching against other teachers besides those accused of making Reels. Block Education Officer Gangeshwari Aarti Gupta is investigating the matter.