india

Updated: Nov 03, 2019 01:40 IST

School teachers across the country may get relief from tasks such as updating voter lists or even cooking midday meals for the students of their schools.

The current draft of the New Education Policy (NEP) being steered by the human resource development (HRD) minister suggests that teaching is a specialised job.

The HRD ministry is learnt to have decided to include these provisions in the final NEP draft to address the problem of teachers’ time being spent on non-teaching activities.

To be sure, the draft only talks of “election work in non-election period” which means that teachers will be asked to do what is called election duty -- usually being involved in the actual voting process.

“Teachers should not be engaged in work that is not directly related to teaching except for rare events that do not interfere with their work. Especially, teachers will not be involved in election work during non-election period, cooking of midday meals, and other administrative tasks,” said a senior HRD ministry official.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, elaborated that often teachers are marked as booth officers and have to undertake the task of compiling and updating voter lists.

This involves going door to door to find out who has moved in and who has moved out.

In some schools, especially those in rural areas, the task of cooking midday meals too falls on the teacher.

Government schools across the country serve midday meals to students. Significantly, the draft allows the teachers to pitch in during election time.

“The committee chaired by former Isro [Indian Space Research Organisation] chief

K Kasturirangan had emphasized the need to recognize the specialised nature of teaching as a profession and spare them the task of filling in for random jobs,” the official added.

In its report to the HRD ministry, the Kasturirangan committee said: “Teachers are often asked to spend large portions of their time on non-teaching activities, such as midday meal preparation, electioneering, or various administrative tasks. This prevents teachers from concentrating on their actual teaching jobs”.

Based on the recommendations of the Kasturirangan panel, the HRD ministry has agreed to ensure that the status of teachers in society has to be enhanced.

“The service conditions, and empowerment of teachers is not where it should be. Therefore, the quality and motivation of teachers does not reach the desired standards where it could be. Respect for teachers and the

high status of the teaching profession must be revived,” the official said.

Eminent educationist Ameeta Wattal, principal of Delhi’s Springdales School, said the concept of teaching has undergone changes over time and teachers need constant updating.

“Teachers need to be involved with adaptive learning, latest technology, parenting community. They have to look at the aspects related to mental health of the students, ensure learning is joyful and experiential. This is lot of work and increasingly scientific. Therefore teachers should not be taxed with tasks which can be done easily by others.”