Maharashtra Govt’s This Rule Will Reduce Non-Academic Workload For Teachers

New Delhi: The Maharashtra government issued a detailed Government Resolution (GR) categorizing the duties of teachers in government and aided schools with academic and non-academic tasks. The GR, released on Friday by the state's school education department, aims to address long-standing concerns from educators regarding their workload.

The resolution specifies 20 academic tasks essential to student education and development, such as teaching, continuous evaluation, preparing holistic report cards, contributing to curriculum development, maintaining student data, and tracking out-of-school children. 

In contrast, it lists 12 non-academic activities, including participation in cleanliness drives, campaigns against open defecation, conducting various surveys, and organizing exams for other departments.

Notably, the GR states that teachers will not be required to engage in non-academic activities, except those related to disaster relief, census, and elections, which remain compulsory.

Teachers express relief 

Teachers have welcomed this clarification, expressing relief over the reduced burden of non-academic tasks. A principal from a city school remarked, “Previously, teachers faced pressure from various departments to engage in non-academic duties with the threat of repercussions for non-compliance. This GR alleviates that stress by clearly defining which tasks are mandatory and which are not.”

Mahendra Ganpule, spokesperson for the Maharashtra School Principals Association, added, “The GR acknowledges the extensive involvement of teachers in non-academic activities. 

“It is now expected that teachers assigned to non-academic duties will be reassigned to focus on their primary educational responsibilities,” he said.