(a) whether the Government has taken cognizance that continuous non-educational jobs of teachers, ranging from election duty to anti-malaria campaigns changes their priorities continually and disorienting and distracting them from their main role; and
(b) if so, the remedial steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to tackle this major issue?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
(SMT ANNPURNA DEVI)
(a) and (b): Para 5.12 of NEP 2020 states “To prevent the large amounts of time spent currently by teachers on non-teaching activities, teachers will not be engaged any longer in work that is not directly related to teaching; in particular, teachers will not be involved in strenuous administrative tasks and more than a rationalized minimum time for mid-day meal related work, so that they may fully concentrate on their teaching-learning duties”. Section 27 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 states that “No teacher shall be deployed for any non-educational purposes other than the decennial population census, disaster relief duties or duties relating to elections to the local authority or the State Legislatures or Parliament, as the case may be.” The Ministry of Education has also issued guidelines to all States and UTs that emphasize that teachers should not be deployed for non-educational duties other than those which are in accordance with the RTE Act. Further, Education is in the Concurrent List of the Constitution; therefore, a majority of the schools are under the administrative control of respective States and Union Territories (UTs).
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