Gandhinagar, Oct 17 (IANS): The Gujarat government has initiated a review of non-academic duties assigned to schoolteachers, including data entry on multiple online portals, with Education Minister Pradyuman Vaja directing a committee of senior officials to recommend ways to reduce their workload and allow them to devote more time to classroom teaching.

At a high-level meeting in Gandhinagar on Saturday, Vaja reviewed the additional responsibilities assigned to primary and secondary school teachers by various departments, along with teacher training requirements and data entry work on different online portals.

The committee will comprise senior officials from the Education Department, the Gujarat Council of Educational Research and Training (GCERT), Samagra Shiksha and the Commissioner of Schools.

It will examine the issue in detail and submit a report to the state government, which will take a final decision based on its recommendations.

“The classroom is a teacher’s true workplace,” Vaja said, stressing the need to reduce unnecessary online data entry and non-academic duties so that teachers can spend more time on teaching and other academic activities.

The minister said the government is committed to addressing teachers’ concerns and that efforts to simplify their work were being undertaken in mission mode.

The stated objective is to improve the quality of education by allowing teachers to focus more closely on students’ learning.

Referring to the national goal of "Viksit Bharat 2047" envisioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vaja said: "Education would be key to achieving the target and that teachers had an important role to play."

He called for the government, teachers and students to work together towards nation-building.

The review will cover the workload arising from online reporting, data entry and other responsibilities assigned by different departments, in addition to teacher training.

The committee’s findings are expected to inform the government’s decision on measures to simplify teachers’ duties.

Principal Secretary of the Education Department, Milind Torawane; Director of Primary Education, Prakash Trivedi; and senior officials from the Education Department, GCERT and Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan attended the meeting.

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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.