Maharashtra: Teachers in statewide uproar against non-academic tasks

Frustrated by the imposition of nonacademic tasks teachers and academic staff from schools across the state are expressing strong opposition to the state government In response to a government directive teachers have initiated a boycott after being asked to review and provide data for the financial audit of the Midday Meal MDM scheme conducted annually since 2015The state government has initiated field audits and reconciliations for the internal audit of MDM scheme accounts from the financial year 201516 to 201920 Audit teams are visiting schools district by district and teachers have been provided with a format to verify and input audit data from each year The audit as per the governmentappointed auditors letter started on August 7Mahendra Ganpule spokesperson Maharashtra School Principalsrsquo AssociationDescribing the task as timeconsuming and excessively burdensome teachers throughout the state have commenced a boycott Mahendra Ganpule the state spokesperson for the Maharashtra School Principals Association defended their stance by stating Whenever theres a need for a large number of educated individuals teachers are roped in whether its for election duty census activities or in this case the meticulous audit verification of the MDM scheme spanning several years Despite the Right to Education RTE Act stipulating that teachers should not be engaged in nonacademic duties they are consistently burdened with such tasks The annual audit already encompasses various data points including fund allocation expenditure breakdowns implementation methodologies and verification notes Now were being asked to reverify past audits and furnish data to the visiting audit teamsGanpule further added With nearly 50 per cent of teaching positions vacant across state schools and no teacher recruitment since 2012 educators are already overwhelmed by their academic responsibilities While grappling with the gaps stemming from these vacancies theyre now being saddled with nonacademic tasks as well Every month schools submit information on the school nutrition planMDM scheme to the education department This information could serve as the basis for an audit without the need for a separate one If the education department creates an online system to conduct audits based on daily school submissions everyones time would be sparedCompounding the issue teachers have recently been tasked by the state government to conduct a survey of the illiterate population Teachers argue that these nonacademic assignments are interfering with their core teaching responsibilities but the education department insists on their completion The survey scheduled between August 17 and August 31 is part of the central governments Navbharat Saksharta AbhiyanVijay Kombey president of the Maharashtra State Primary Teachers Committee emphasised Involving teachers in nonacademic work will undoubtedly impact the overall teaching and learning process The responsibility for implementing and auditing the midday meal or school nutrition scheme should not fall on teachers shoulders Furthermore the education department has delegated the illiteracy survey under the Navbharat Literacy Mission to NGOs It is illogical and counterproductive to assign primary teachers for this survey The government should seriously reconsider this approach We have unanimously decided to boycott these two tasksSucceeding in their daily teaching responsibilities planning lessons adhering to the syllabus and aligning with the National Education Policys teaching methodologies are crucial for teachers However more often than not they find themselves juggling academic and nonacademic duties Its imperative for the government to comprehend the situation and ensure that students academic progress doesnt suffer due to teachers overwhelming nonacademic workload noted Sushil Shejule coordinator of Marathi Shala Sansthachalak SanghUpon reaching out Sharad Gosavi the director of state primary education was unavailable for comment7 AugDay audit began