Over 3L teachers to go on leave on Sept 5

They are equally exasperated by the various mobile applications they are instructed to download to carry out other clerical tasks. “I have at least 18 apps on which I have to submit daily and weekly data, instructed by the group education officer,” said a teacher from Thane district

Mumbai: Teachers join the profession for the love of imparting knowledge and honing the minds of their students. In recent times in government and aided schools this basic job has been hijacked as most of them are compelled to get involved in non-academic tasks. They are involved in over 130 jobs not related to teaching in a single academic year. Since their protests have not been heeded, more than three lakh teachers have decided to go on mass leave on September 5 – Teachers’ Day – protesting this imposition.

Teachers agitating for various demands, including eliminating non-educational work at Vardha on July 15. (HT Photo)

The Right to Education (RTE) Act makes exceptions only for election-related work on days of polling, disaster management and tabulating census. On Teachers’ Day, in addition to mass leave, they have decided not to cooperate for non-teaching tasks and work that does not fall under the regimented school syllabi.

“Every other department from the state government, apart from the education department, reaches out to us to conduct various surveys. Recently, the revenue department assigned our teachers to carry out a construction survey in our villages. We have to do this after school hours. It is difficult to handle such non-educational work,” said Manoj Lulla, a teacher from Jalgaon district.

Vijay Kombey, state president of Maharashtra state primary education committee, said teachers are stretched thin carrying out responsibilities far removed from their expertise. “This practice among schools under Zilla Parishad, the civic bodies and those aided by government have persisted for years. It has been a detriment to primary education. Teachers from various regions are raising their concerns,” said Kombey.

They are equally exasperated by the various mobile applications they are instructed to download to carry out other clerical tasks. “I have at least 18 apps on which I have to submit daily and weekly data, instructed by the group education officer,” said a teacher from Thane district.

In some rural Zilla Parishad schools, which are run by just one or two teachers, they find themselves involved with opening and closing the schools as well ensuring that hygiene is maintained on the premises. “The absence of support staff has led teachers to perform these duties which are beyond their purview, including arranging essentials like drinking water and participating in classroom maintenance,” said a teacher.

Another teacher activist Bhuasaheb Chaskar, said, “According to RTE, teachers should complete 800 teaching hours for Classes 1–5 and 1,000 hours for Classes 6–8 in one academic year. These hours are hardly met as they are taken up with other non-educational work.”

A Shahapur Zilla Parishad school teacher said, “Teachers receive between five and 15 circulars in a day, asking for various school-related information. An officer sends us a link and teachers are required to submit data.” He listed out some tasks: surveying eligible students in a village and classifying them in illiterate and literate categories according to their age, making a survey of people below the poverty line, animal surveys and surveys of public toilets. Teachers are also asked to celebrate events like wildlife week and participate in tree plantation drives.

Speaking about the teachers’ resistance planned next month, Kombey said, “This is a failure of the teachers’ movement. The government does not think teachers have the right to protest non-educational work. This is the first of a kind.”

With many teachers from BMC-run schools working as booth level officers (BLO), the burden to running classes falls on the others. Equally, those engaged in out-of-school activities are a frustrated lot for being kept away from teaching. As a teacher from a Vikhroli-based school said, “I have been working as a BLO for the last seven years. I really want to teach students, and hence have requested the education department to take me off this duty many times, but the election officer has turned a deaf ear to my request.”

A principal from a BMC-run school lamented that since his non-teaching staff has been engaged with the election office since 2008, the burden of their work is borne by teachers. “I also face staff crunch when my teachers are on field to conduct various surveys,” he said.

Shivnath Darade, secretary, Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad, said, “We are continually demanding that our teachers be freed from non-educational work, especially election work, since it affects the long-term quality of education. But the government is unconcerned.”