Colleges have closed for summer and teachers of state-aided institutions have had to be reminded that the vacation is only for students.

Principals of state-aided colleges have asked teachers to report for duty on all working days or risk being penalised for absenteeism if they stay away from the campus without authorised leave.

The revised leave rules for state-aided college teachers took effect in 2011 but compliance has been low. "Attendance records show that most teachers take the summer break for students as their vacation. We will be compelled to mark them absent if they do so this year," the principal of a south Calcutta college said.

According to a senior official of the higher education department, teachers have become habituated to an unofficial summer recess every year unless they are assigned invigilation duty for any exam. The change in rules has made little difference, he said.

The summer break in state-aided colleges this year is from May 15 to June 30.

Until last year, most colleges hadn't marked anyone absent because of resistance from teachers' unions, sources said. The decision to enforce the attendance rule this time has partly been triggered by the realisation that the absence of teachers during the summer break could hamper the online admission process.

"The state government has made college-wise online admissions compulsory. We need to engage as many teachers as possible to conduct online admissions smoothly," said the principal of a college in central Calcutta.

The amended rules make it clear that teachers are not entitled to a summer vacation since they get 30 days of earned leave a year. If teachers prefer to take a summer break along with the students, the official way to do so is by submitting applications for leave.

"It is difficult for us to maintain the leave accounts of teachers if they stay away from the campus without justification," the principal said.

Prior to 2011, it wasn't compulsory for teachers to be present on campus during the summer break if they weren't assigned any examination-related work.

To compensate for the change in rules, the government announced that teachers would be able to encash up to 300 days of leave at the time of their retirement instead of the previous limit of 180.

The University Grants Commission recommends a summer break for teachers of colleges that are open six days a week. Colleges in Bengal have a five-day week.

Sources in the higher education department said the presence of teachers on campus during the summer recess was meant to ensure that they utilised the break from classroom teaching for research, writing and mentoring.

"The summer break is the period when teachers can interact with students individually, motivate and help them. This purpose has been defeated," an official said.

Nimai Chandra Saha, the director of public instruction, declined to confirm or deny whether college principals had been verbally asking teachers to report for duty during the summer break.

Asked why a written circular hadn't been issued, a principal said it was "expected" that teachers would be present on campus on a working day. Teachers' unions have united in protesting the attempt to enforce a four-year-old rule.

"Principals have no authority to ask teachers to attend college every day during the summer recess," declared Srutinath Prahraj, general secretary of the CPM-affiliated West Bengal College and University Teachers' Association.

"We don't have a problem with teachers being engaged for exam duty. But they shouldn't be asked to attend college when there are no students to teach," said Krishnakali Basu, president of the Trinamul-affiliated West Bengal College and University Professors' Association.