Mumbai: Why teachers are up in arms against state

Aruna Bhatt, a teacher on election duty, at her Mira Road residence. Pic/Anurag Ahire

Aruna Bhatt, 40, has been a school teacher for two decades, but election duty has kept her out of the classroom for six years. Her situation is not unique; many teachers across the state have been requisitioned for non-academic duties without being relieved of their primary responsibilities.

Teachers across the state expressed concerns about the heavy workload related to numerous non-academic responsibilities such as taking part in election duty, household toilet surveys, the Maratha census, illiteracy census and even geo-mapping of madrassas.

While it's not uncommon for teachers to be requisitioned for such tasks, the never-ending list of such duties imposed on teachers for the last five years is particularly daunting and Mumbai's school teachers have decided to take a stand against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's decision to deploy them for non-academic tasks, particularly during the exam season. The recent directive from the BMC's education department has sparked widespread criticism from educators.

Khanderao Dhobaley, teacher, Junnar-based school; Appa Sawant, a teacher, Bhor-based school; Shitla Prasad Badgujar, teacher, Vikhroli-based college

The controversy revolves around the civic body's order requiring teachers to serve as booth-level officers (BLO) two days a week (Tuesday and Saturday). With nearly half of the teaching workforce redirected to election duties, schools are grappling with chaos as a result.

Non-academic jobs

They are involved in over 130 jobs not related to teaching in a single academic year, including undertaking village construction surveys and filling out various Google forms. Around 50 to 60 other tasks need to be done by the teachers on a daily or fortnightly basis such as filling mid-day meal scheme information, updating student, school and staff portals and updating information for the Swachh Vidyalaya Award.

While these are online tasks, offline ones include participating in census activities; the below-poverty-line, out-of-school, toilet awareness and economic surveys; Gram Swachhta Mission and deworming campaign. As BLOs, teachers must attend meetings in the tehsil office.

Various voices

Mahendra Ganpule, state spokesperson, Maharashtra School Principals' Association, said, "At times, up to 50 to 60 per cent of staff in each school are occupied with non-academic duties. In rural areas, teachers are often compelled to undertake tasks such as verifying students' Aadhaar cards and managing their bank accounts. Due to the necessity of maintaining and updating students' records and data, teachers find themselves compelled to perform these tasks. The state is grappling with a 30 per cent teacher vacancy."

Aruna Bhatt

Anil Bornare, a teacher and executive member of Mumbai BJP, said the list of administrative and non-academic tasks assigned to teachers seems never-ending, with new responsibilities being added each year.

"Teachers are also required to undergo various training sessions. Consequently, they find themselves with limited or no time to enhance their teaching skills and methodologies," he said.

Shivnath Darade, secretary, Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad, said, "We have demanded that teachers be exempted from all non-academic tasks. The government should tie up with organisations which can provide manpower and get the work done. Overburdening teachers is inhuman and will
affect students."

Rajesh Pandya of Teacher Democratic Front said, "With each new survey announced, local civic bodies and collectors issue orders to requisition teachers, a trend that has notably intensified over the past two to three years.

This year, the workload for examiners has risen significantly, with the number of answer papers assigned for assessment to each increasing from a minimum of 200 to 250 or even more. This added responsibility requires both time and attention. However, with teachers also obligated to spend two days fulfilling election duties as BLOs, one wonders whether they will be able to maintain focus."

Vijay Kombey, state president, Maharashtra State Primary Teachers Committee, said many tasks are unrelated to teaching and consume valuable time.

"Teachers are stretched thin carrying out responsibilities far removed from their expertise," he said.

Aruna Bhatt, a teacher at Goklibai School in Vile Parle West, shared her disillusionment with her chosen profession. Initially drawn to teaching for its promise of stability.

Election duty

Bhatt's experience has taken an unexpected turn. Since 2019, she has been assigned to election duty until 2024. She recounted a moment in 2018 when certain divisions within her school were shut down, resulting in some teachers, including herself, being labelled surplus.

Later, she received a letter from the state government instructing her to report to Mantralaya. Upon arrival, she discovered five other teachers facing the same requisition. While she and three others objected, two chose to comply. Those who dissented were eventually relieved of their duties. However, six months later, Bhatt found herself once again requisitioned, this time for election duty. This role involves extensive paperwork and fieldwork, including house-to-house visits. "I am a teacher only in name. I find myself working as a clerk or even a peon at times, shuttling documents between departments. This is not what I signed up for," she said.

Since 2019, Bhatt reports to the tehsildar office or election office in Malad West every morning. There, she has to acquire Form No. 6 (for new voters), Form No. 7 (for deletion of names), and complete other formalities for name corrections. Most of the time, she is required to go door-to-door. She must maintain a log of her activities, which is then verified by the tehsildar office, and submit it to the school to receive her salary.

"As soon as you become a surplus teacher, you lose your identity as a teacher. According to me, hundreds of teachers engaged in non-academic tasks like election duty and surveys," Bhatt said.

Another teacher, Shitla Prasad Badgujar, who works at Vikhroli's Sandesh Junior College, said, "We are undergoing training for the National Education Policy's implementation. We will also be called for training for election duty. The situation is even worse for primary and secondary teachers."

Survey duty

In the backdrop of demands for Maratha reservation, the state government made teachers conduct a door-to-door survey in January this year. Almost 50 per cent of teaching staff in some of the schools in the state were on the field for the survey. Teachers even complained of facing insults and ill-treatment.

Appa Sawant, a teacher at a Zilla Parishad school in Pune's Bhor taluka, said, "Many schools in the taluka are facing dearth of teachers, the situation is similar in many districts of the state. We fill in for each other so that students do not suffer. On top of that, we have to complete so many non-academic tasks. Every day, we get new links from the education department to be filled and updated."

During COVID-19 Sawant and many of his colleagues were assigned nakabandi duty, which comprised night patrolling and supervising people during quarantine. He suggested that the government should pair teachers with revenue staff or personnel, as people tend to disregard teachers' authority. "It's inappropriate to assign road duty to teachers," he said.

In October Last year, teachers had to visit homes and identify illiterate individuals above the age of 15 as part of the Centre's New India Literacy Programme (NILP).
Khanderao Dhobaley, a teacher at ZP School, Junnar, said such work kept his colleagues occupied for almost two to three months. "This diverted our attention from academic responsibilities. The requirement to update various information every day also took a toll on my personal life. During the pandemic, we were tasked with conducting surveys of patients. In Zilla Parishad schools, where there is a lack of peons or clerks, teachers are required to handle all the administrative work," he said.

Madrassa geo-mapping

Earlier this month, 126 surplus teachers from schools under the jurisdiction of the education inspector of Mumbai North were mandated to carry out the geo-mapping of madrassas. What unsettled teachers was a warning of salary deductions for those who failed to attend a meeting.

"As divisions in our school were reduced, we were categorised as surplus teachers. We have become mere tools for the government to utilise wherever they see fit. Upon being designated as surplus teachers, we are assigned various non-academic tasks or are made regular temporary staff for election-related work. We find ourselves unable to protest or even voice our concerns, fearing salary deductions," said a teacher.

Recent study

According to a study published in The Empirical Economics Letters, a monthly international journal, in January 2024, extracurricular/ non-academic activities had a considerable negative impact on India's teaching standards. The study's sample consisted of 112 teachers from universities and colleges in Mumbai, and data was collected between June and August 2023.

The research revealed that the effects of excessive administrative work on teachers not only include anxiety, depression, overburden and difficulty juggling personal and professional obligations but also lead to lack of interest in teaching, cancelling lectures, not having enough time for subject preparation and no time for self-improvement.

130
No. of non-academic tasks teachers must undertake yearly