State appoints panel to review burden of non-educational work on teachers

Around 60,000 teachers in government schools in Maharashtra went on mass leave on Teachers' Day to protest against non-educational work burdens. The state government has appointed a committee to review this issue. As a result, 5,500 schools were closed for the day.

Mumbai: After around 60,000 teachers from government schools across the state went on mass leave on Teachers’ Day in protest, the state government on Tuesday appointed a committee to review the burden of non-educational work on teachers.

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Chief minister Eknath Shinde said a decision will be taken on this issue after the panel submits its report. As a result of teachers going on mass leave, around 5,500 schools were closed for the day.

HT on August 25 reported that teachers are involved in over 130 tasks in an academic year that are not related to teaching. Of the more than 130 non-educational tasks including undertaking village construction surveys and filling out various Google forms that are expected to be performed during the academic year, around 50 to 60 other tasks need to be done by the teachers on a daily or fortnightly basis.

Taking cognisance of the report, the state government formed a committee under the chairmanship of the secretary of the school education department.

“In the wake of the mass leave movement called by the teachers’ association on Teachers’ Day regarding the non-educational work that they have to do, the chief minister announced the appointment of a committee to review the burden of non-educational work on teachers,” said Vijay Kombey, state president of the Maharashtra State Primary Education Committee.

Kombey added, “Through this committee, all the non-educational work that affects daily teaching, should be removed after comprehensive consideration. If such a decision is made, we welcome it.”

Shinde, who made the announcement at felicitation ceremony for teachers in Mumbai said, “The aim of the government is to bring radical changes in the education sector and the necessary funds are being made available through the government to cultivate the importance of education.”

Deepak Kesarkar, School education minister, said, “A proposal has been made through the department on whether corporate social responsibility funds can be used to develop infrastructure in schools after getting approval from the government. The development of facilities in schools will take five to 10 years.”