Teachers to Focus on Teaching only, says Modi-appointed Panel

A panel appointed by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, consisting of a group of secretaries, has recommended that teachers should focus only on teaching and should not be assigned any non-academic work.

A senior official from the ministry said that doing activities other than teaching takes a toll on the teachers, diverting them from their primary duty. He added that it also affects the results of the students.

In the report, the secretaries stressed that teachers, being pivotal to quality education, should concentrate on teaching only. The HRD ministry will now work on the recommendations of the report.

From conducting cattle census, pulse polio work to election duties and ration card verification, teachers across the country are persuaded to do several non-teaching activities.

Even private schools are making their faculty multi-task, asking them to fill the shoes of an accountant by collecting fees from students to cut costs. Ideally, the clerical staff or non-teaching staff is supposed to take care of these chores.

Most private schools also ask the teachers to accompany students in school buses. Last year CBSE had asked private schools affiliated to it to ensure that their teachers are not hampered with non-teaching duties such as travelling with children in buses and managing canteens.

In 2022, the HRD ministry had also said it will conduct a survey to assess the adverse impact of non-teaching activities on teaching and the teachers.

Sources said that the National University of Educational and Administration (NUEPA) was asked to undertake the study and submit it by September. Established by the HRD ministry, NUEPA assists capacity building and research in planning and management of education.

A number of teachers’ associations had taken up the matter in their respective states.