At present, teachers across the state are burdened with numerous administrative and government duties—ranging from election work to census activities and departmental surveys—alongside their core teaching responsibilities. This added workload has adversely impacted classroom teaching and student performance, prompting the department to act.
To address this, a comprehensive policy is being formulated to limit teacher involvement in non-teaching tasks such as elections, census data collection, government surveys, and over 100 departmental programs. As per the proposed plan, such activities will now be scheduled for Saturday afternoons or Sundays, ensuring that teaching hours remain uninterrupted during weekdays.
In a further measure to reduce the non-academic burden, the department is considering assigning tasks like online data entry, uploading of photos and videos, and geo-tagging of activities to school clerks or data operators at the Gram Panchayat level. This would spare teachers from time-consuming digital submissions, allowing them to focus more on academic responsibilities.
To facilitate this transition, the Education Department is coordinating with the Rural Development Department and urging Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis to take over certain administrative responsibilities currently handled by teachers.
A study group, chaired by the Deputy Director of Education from the Kolhapur Division, has been established to evaluate these proposals and submit a final report. The group will analyze current teacher workloads and suggest practical alternatives.
Commenting on the development, Education Commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh stated, “Concrete measures are being taken to ensure that teachers can now spend more time on their primary duty—teaching.”
This initiative is expected to bring a major shift in the functioning of schools and improve the quality of education across the state.