NEW DELHI: Teachers in India’s 16,000 schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) will be gratified to that the board has decided to spare them the drudgery of certain ‘non-academic’ duties such as minding the bus queues, taking an inventory of the canteen, etc.
A circular issued by CBSE secretary Joseph Emmanuel has decreed that schools should refrain from non-curricular tasks to teachers while making three exceptions: census work, disaster relief and election duties.
Barring those three types of work, the circular outlaws all tasks other than those related to teaching, professional upgradation, examinations and evaluation. It directs schools to not assign "activities of a ministerial nature, transport or canteen". It directs the schools to deploy separate staff for such tasks.
The CBSE circular said it would be the responsibility of the principal and the secretary of the school society or trust to ensure that teachers are given tasks they are hired for.
The issue of teachers being involved in non-academic activities was raised in the Oct. 25 meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education, the country's highest advisory body in education.
The move is expected to prevent exploitation of teachers by school managements. It will apply to all Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas across the country.