E-Paper
NAS 2021: 38% Chandigarh teachers feel overworked, second highest among UTs
Nearly 280 of 732 teachers surveyed at 106 Chandigarh schools confirmed they were ‘overloaded with work’, as revealed in the National Achievement Survey
While Chandigarh has left behind all Union territories (UTs) in the recently released National Achievement Survey (NAS) exam scores, the survey’s feedback part reflects that 38% teachers in Chandigarh feel overloaded with work, second highest among the country’s eight UTs.
The Union ministry of education had conducted the NAS survey, comprising the exam and feedback, for Classes 3, 5, 8 and 10 in November 2021.
As many as 5,726 students from 106 Chandigarh schools, including central, government, government-aided and private schools, had appeared for the exam.
Along with the exam, 732 teachers of Classes 3, 5, 8 and 10 from these 106 schools were also surveyed about various aspects and 38% (278) reported they were overworked, just behind 55% in Puducherry, highest among the country’s eight UTs.
Daman and Diu were third on the list with 33% teachers reporting overload, followed by 30% in Delhi, 24% in Dadra and Nagar Haveli, 24% in Jammu and Kashmir, and 21% in Ladakh. At 15%, the teachers surveyed in Lakshadweep turned out to be the least overworked.
The feedback report further details that among the teachers surveyed in Chandigarh, those teaching Class 3 kids were the most overburdened, with 40% responding in affirmative.
Class-5 and Class-10 teachers were not far behind at 38% and 37%, respectively, while 35% respondents teaching Class-8 students also claimed to be overloaded with work.
President of UT Cadre Educational Employees’ Union, Swarn Singh Kamboj added, “The Junior Basic Training (JBT) teachers are the worst affected. They are supposed to take only junior classes, but are even teaching Class 11 and 12 students in some cases. Most teachers have to take five to six periods a day, which is physically taxing. We urge the education department to at least hire some contractual teachers or guest lecturers on temporary basis to ease our burden.”
Chairman of the Joint Action Committee of Teachers, Chandigarh, Savinder Singh said, “Multiple teaching posts in Chandigarh’s government schools are lying vacant, but the UT education department continues to sit on its hands. City’s schools have been recording an increase in the students’ intake every year. With teachers also retiring and more teachers not being hired, the pupil-teacher ratio is consistently going up.”
UT school education director Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar said, “While the department is working on recruiting more teachers, it has also been observed that teachers are required to regularly supply a lot of information to the department. We are working on streamlining this process to decrease the load on teachers.”
On the bright side, 76% teachers in Chandigarh said they had adequate work space and 67% responded that they had sufficient instructional material and supplies.
A sizeable 89% respondents agreed that parents took interest in school activities and 90% teachers said they had participated in professional development programmes.
In terms of infrastructural facilities, 8% teachers highlighted need for major repairs in school buildings, 3% pointed at inadequate toilet facilities, while 4% complained of lack of drinking water.
Among the head teachers in Chandigarh, 98% appreciated adequate teaching staff, 85% said they had adequate support staff and 100% confirmed participation in sports activities.
As many as 81% said their schools had adequate audio-visual resources and 88% confirmed presence of sufficient library resources.
