The government school teachers in Andhra Pradesh will no longer be engaged in non-teaching duties. The state government has now amended the AP Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Rules, 2010, prohibiting the deployment of teachers for "non-educational purposes".
"Section 27 of the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, envisaged the prohibition of deployment of teachers for non-educational purposes. In accordance with it and also to further strengthen the RTE Act, we have made the necessary amendments," said School Education Commissioner S Suresh Kumar, as per a report by PTI.
The School Education Department has already cancelled the deputation of several teachers as personal assistants to ministers and legislators and re-engaged them in teaching activity. And the new amendments would keep teachers away from election duties, Census work and the like.
The changes were intended to let teachers focus on their core academic activities and improve the academic advancement of children. Kumar pointed out that various teachers' unions had demanded that the services of teachers be utilised only for academic work to improve learning outcomes.
He also pointed out that the recent Andhra Pradesh Student Learning Achievement Survey revealed "poor reading and comprehension skills" among school students in the state. "Teachers are required to focus on their core activity and dedicate their time solely to improve the learning outcomes. Only that will ensure academic transformation, for which the state government has been implementing various reformative schemes," the Commissioner stated.
Kumar said that government schools in the state have been reorganised from Class III. And qualified subject teachers have been provided in line with the National Education Policy. "We are also refurbishing the school infrastructure in a big way under the Mana Badi: Nadu-Nedu (Our School: Then and Now) programme at a total estimated cost of Rs 16,021 crore. Simultaneously, we are also transforming the classrooms to digital to enhance the learning experience of students," he added.
"Coupled with the reform initiatives, effective implementation of the RTE Act, 2009, was the key to usher in transformative changes and improved learning outcomes. Hence the prohibition of non-teaching activities by teachers," he said further, as per PTI.
