Government school teachers in Haryana are asking the state government to cut down their non-academic workload. They say duties like election work, surveys and verification drives keep them away from classrooms for days — sometimes weeks — and this hurts students' learning.
RTI activist Narendra Parik, along with several government school teachers, has submitted a representation to the Chief Minister. The demand is simple: let teachers teach.
What Non-Academic Duties Are Teachers Being Asked to Do?
According to The Tribune, thousands of teachers are routinely assigned duties such as Booth Level Officer (BLO) work, voter list revision, government surveys, verification drives and other administrative assignments. These tasks pull teachers out of schools for extended periods.
The representation points out that these responsibilities are not occasional — they are routine. Teachers are expected to juggle their classroom roles with these administrative tasks, and the result is that students lose out on regular instruction.
Teachers Speak Up: Classroom Time Is Being Lost
Government school teachers Vinod Kumar, Raman and Virender Singh have echoed the same concern. They say the state is investing heavily in initiatives such as NIPUN Haryana and other foundational learning programs, but those efforts are undermined when teachers are not available to teach.
"These responsibilities keep teachers away from schools for days, and sometimes weeks, disrupting students' studies." — The Tribune
The teachers argue that if the state wants its education initiatives to succeed, it must ensure teachers are actually present in classrooms. Every day spent on non-academic work is a day of learning lost for students.
Why This Demand Matters for Haryana's Schools
This is not just about teacher convenience. The core issue is about the quality of education that students receive. When teachers are pulled away for election duties or surveys, students miss out on lessons. Over time, this adds up to significant gaps in learning.
The timing of this demand is important. The state has launched programs like NIPUN Haryana to improve foundational literacy and numeracy. But these programs need teachers in classrooms to work. If teachers are constantly being assigned other duties, the goals of these initiatives become harder to achieve.
Our Take: A Fair Demand That Needs Urgent Attention
In our view, this is a reasonable and necessary demand. Teachers are trained to teach, not to manage elections or conduct surveys. When the state assigns these tasks to teachers, it is using them as a free administrative workforce — and the cost is borne by students.
The state government should seriously consider this representation. There are other ways to manage election duties and surveys — through dedicated staff or contractual workers. Teachers should be the last people to be pulled out of classrooms, not the first.
If Haryana wants its education initiatives to deliver results, it must protect classroom time. The demand from these teachers is not just about their own workload — it is about the future of the students they teach. The government should act on this representation and find a practical solution that keeps teachers where they belong: in front of their students.