Teachers Warn Boycott of Election Duties as the Work Will Lead 50% of Teachers to do Non-Academic Jobs

Mumbai: Teachers have been roped in for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections right after work on the Maratha reservation survey. There is a lot of resentment among the teachers as 50 percent of the teachers in most schools have been called for this out-of-school work. Teachers in Mumbai have decided to boycott election work. 

Teachers are already reeling under the pressure of completing the syllabus which is in turn fuelled by extra non-teaching work. The Right to Education Act prohibits teachers from doing any kind of non-academic work. The only exceptions are the census and election-related voting, counting, and emergency-related activities.

"However, for the past few days, teachers have been forced to do everything. That is why we will boycott the election work," said Anil Bornare, a teacher leader and BJP state executive member. On Monday, Bornare will meet with election officials and education officials to demand that teachers be excluded from the job.

... Otherwise, disciplinary action
On Saturday night, the education officer had ordered that teachers of municipal and private aided primary and secondary schools should be present in the election office only on Sunday morning. It also threatened disciplinary action against teachers who were absent. 

A lot of teachers' time is wasted in filling out online information for schools. In the meantime, the task of filling out online information for the 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' program was also entrusted to the teachers. Then came the survey work.

Now that schools are on track, they've been forced to work on elections. At least 50 percent of the teachers in each school have been engaged in this work. The question is how to do the election work as we have to plan the exams and fill in other daily online information.

"There are many employees in the service of the center, such as railways, post departments, and corporations. Why aren't they selected for this job? Why is all the burden placed on teachers? This is also not mandatory in private schools. It is affecting the fate of the children of middle-class parents studying in government and private-aided schools." - Anil Bornare, teacher leader