In a major relief to teachers in government-run schools in the state, the Bombay high court has stayed their involvement in the National Population Registration (NPR) work on the grounds that doing such work resulted in academic loss of students as well as victimisation of teachers at the hands of educationofficials.
According to MLC from the teachers’ constituency Kapil Patil, primary, secondary and upper secondary teachers were being forced to do NPR duty which was resulting in teachers neglecting their academic duties which in turn led to academic loss to students. Hence Shikshak Bharati filed a petition seeking relief and exemption to the teachers from all over the state. The petition came up for hearing on Monday following which the court stayed the NPR duty order for teachers and posted the hearing for November 24.
“Another teachers’ organisation had filed a similar petition and the court had granted relief from NPR duty to its teachers. However as other teachers were being victimised I decided to file a fresh petition,” said Mr Patil.
Earlier in October, following complaints of teachers being forced to do non-academic duties which kept them away from classrooms for days at end, the deputy directors’ of education offices in many states had issued circulars restraining teachers from being given NPR duty. However, in Maharashtra, officials were threatening teachers with dire consequences that included suspension if they refused to report for NPR duty.
“Even though the Right To Education Act also stipulates that teachers should not be given non-academic duties, they are being forced to do so. The petition has sought a permanent relief for teachers affiliated to Shikshak Bharati as well as other organisations permanently,” said Mr Patil.
He, however, added that the petition had not prayed for relief from out-of-school children survey that the state government has initiated over a period of two weeks from November 15.
