CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Elementary Teachers Organisations Joint Action Committee (TETO JAC) has sent a letter to the elementary education director stating that teachers will not upload any details other than attendance of students and teachers on the Education Management Information System (EMIS) or in the School Education Department app from October 16. They have also urged the department to drop the Ennum Ezhuthum scheme, the state government’s literacy and numeracy programme.
In the letter, the committee said that uploading data is time consuming and distractsthem from their teaching role. On September 5, school education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi had said at a function that teachers would be soon relieved of EMIS work.
According to the teachers, they are now uploading various details of students like health parameters and the status of distribution of free educational kits to the students. Several online assessments are also conducted for the students and its details are uploaded on the apps.
The Ennum Ezhuthum scheme, which was being implemented up to Class 3 last year, was extended till Class 5 this year. “The schools reopened on June 12. There are several students enrolling in Class 1 in government schools who don’t attend KG classes. Teachers initially focus on teaching them the alphabets and numbers. This year, we were asked to conduct online assessments for even Class 1 students from July first week. This will only affect the education of the children,” said S Mayil, general secretary of Tamil Nadu Primary Teachers Federation.
TETO JAC also announced a protest at Perasiriyar Anbazhagan Valaagam on October 13 stressing their 30-point demands. School education department officials were not available for comments.