NELLORE: A government school headmaster has resigned, alleging that he has been facing an administrative burden and non-academic duties imposed on him for the past 4-5 years.
M Madhusudhana Rao, headmaster of MPP School, Kotitirtham, in Chejerla mandal of Nellore district, has submitted his resignation to the Commissioner of School Education, expressing his disappointment with the state of the public education system.
He has also submitted his resignation letter to a staff member at the Mandal Resource Centre in Chejarla.
In a detailed letter, Rao criticised the government for assigning excessive non-teaching responsibilities to teachers, saying, “Teachers are being turned into bonded labour in the name of apps and other programs, while students’ education is being neglected for the past 4-5 years.” He questioned the practicality of certain initiatives, highlighting, “How can children be expected to come to school, and perform yoga as early as 6 am?”
With 29 years of service behind him, Rao said he had never witnessed such disregard for the core purpose of teaching for the past 4-5 years. He lamented that the focus of school teachers had shifted dramatically from academics to government-imposed auxiliary tasks, causing frustration among educators.
“This is not why I entered the teaching profession,” he wrote, urging senior officials to introspect and reorient the system toward academics. He urged the government to ease the additional burden on teachers, and allow them to focus on classroom teaching.
His resignation has triggered concern and discussion among the teaching community and education officials across the district, with many viewing it as a bold statement against what they describe as a growing disconnect between policy-making and ground realities in schools. Rao’s wife has also been working as a teacher in Nellore district. When MEOs Mastanaiah and Srinivasulu visited the school, the headmaster explained his plight, and confirmed that he had stuck to his decision.