The Tamil Nadu Elementary Teachers Organisation’s Joint Action Committee (TETO JAC) has written to the Directorate of Elementary Education, stating that teachers will not upload any details of the students other than the student and teacher attendance on the Education Management Information System (EMIS) or in the School Education Department app, beginning October 16.
In their letter, they have also urged the department to discontinue the state government's literacy and numeracy programme, Ennum Ezhuthum, according to The New Indian Express.
The committee claimed in the letter that uploading data takes time and diverts them from their teaching duties. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozh, Minister of School Education, had stated at a gathering on September 5 that teachers would soon be released from their EMIS duties.
The teachers claim that they are now uploading various student information, including health metrics and the status of the distribution of free educational kits to the students. The students are also made to take a number of online tests, and the results are uploaded on the apps.
This year, the Ennum Ezhuthum scheme was extended to include Class V, up from Class III last year. S Mayil, General Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Primary Teachers Federation, says, "The schools reopened on June 12. There are several students enrolling in Class I in government schools who don't attend KG classes. Teachers initially focus on teaching them the alphabet and numbers. This year, we were asked to conduct online assessments for even Class I students from the first week of July. This will only affect the education of the children."
On October 13, TETO JAC also made a protest announcement at Perasiriyar Anbazhagan Valaagam, emphasising their 30-point demands. Officials from the Tamil Nadu School Education Department were unavailable for comments.
