State govt outlines work for teachers, no respite from poll duties

The Maharashtra government issued a GR mandating that teachers focus on teaching-related tasks, excluding them from non-educational activities, but still requiring poll duties.

Mumbai: The state government on Saturday issued a Government Resolution (GR) that all schools affiliated with it should ensure that teachers are not engaged in any activity other than those related to teaching. The outlining of work for teachers and non-teaching staff which came as a result of protests and several complaints filed by the teachers about the quality of education taking a hit as they are being frequently burdened with non-educational work.

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The state, however, gave no respite to the teachers from poll duties. The GR stated that they are required to carry out work related to the decennial census, election work on the day of the polls and disaster relief work, as per Section 27 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act. The GR also specified that government surveys from other departments, cleanliness drives, and participation in non-educational activities in collaboration with the government could not be made mandatory for teachers.

The pressing issue was discussed in the state assembly session on September 9, 2023, after which the government appointed a committee under the chairmanship of the principal secretary of the school education department Ranjeet Singh Deol to classify what work constitutes educational and non-educational. Based on the committee’s recommendations, the state issued the GR on Saturday.

After the GR was made public, it received mixed reactions since the government recently accepted that teachers are not liable to do election duty except on election day. BMC had directed over 2,000 teachers from civic and aided schools to report for election work.

GR stated that teachers must put in 200 days for primary (class 1-5) and 220 days for upper primary (class 6-8) in a year.

Vijay Kombey, state president, of Maharashtra State Primary Teacher Committee, said, “The government’s decision to classify academic and non-academic work is an incomprehensible and unacceptable decision that gives non-academic work the appearance of academic work and makes teachers suffer. Our committee is opposed to the decision.”