Guwahati: Government school teachers in Assam are protesting against the growing imposition of non-teaching responsibilities and non-curricular activities that, they say, are detrimental to both students and the state education system. Since Friday, members of the Sadou Asom Sanmilito Shikshak Mancha (SASSM), a collective of 12 teachers’ forums from primary to senior secondary level, have been exiting WhatsApp groups where instructions for non-academic tasks under the state government’s Samagra Siksha Assam (SSA) programme are frequently issued.
As part of their protest, the government teachers’ drive to withdraw from WhatsApp groups will continue till 1 November with the Mancha deciding to refrain from participating in any non-academic activities beyond scheduled teaching duties. According to data on the SSA website, Assam has 2,13,254 teachers across 44,083 schools at Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Secondary, and Senior Secondary levels.
Nearly 2 lakh teachers have exited the groups so far, Assam State Primary Teachers’ Association (ASPTA) secretary general Ratul Chandra Goswami told ThePrint.
According to Goswami and other Mancha members, government school teachers have been made to perform tasks “outside the purview” of the academic calendar prepared by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Assam. The tasks have ranged from distributing t-shirts under the Jaldoot programme—a Jal Jeevan Mission initiative—to planting saplings and uploading pictures under the Amrit Brikshya Andolan and the ‘Ek Ped Maa ke Naam’ campaign.
Some of these tasks come with targets, and the teachers are required to provide explanation if they fail to achieve them. For instance, in a letter to school authorities in Kamrup (Rural) this August, the SSA mission director’s office requested explanations for why the district school authorities had failed to meet the targets for the planting of saplings under Amrit Brikshya Andolan.
“The target which should be fulfilled by your district is 10,0080, whereas the number of saplings planted is 39,913 with a difference of 60,167,” the letter said, directing the school authorities to send an urgent reply via email.
The Mancha said these responsibilities beyond scheduled duties are thrust upon teachers at the cost of teaching.
Suranjana Senapati, the director of elementary education, Government of Assam, told ThePrint that the department has not received any official complaint regarding the matter.
“We maintain a cordial relationship with the teachers, and the government has always given them the topmost priority. From time to time, their issues and grievances have been addressed. If there is an issue, we will try to find a way out.”
Regarding the assignment of non-curricular tasks to government teachers beyond the academic calendar, Senapati said that such concerns had previously been raised with the department, which had led SSA officials to cease issuing additional instructions.
‘Reduced to the role of data operators’
SASSM president Ranjit Barthakur told ThePrint that these online groups had initially been created to ease communication between education officers and Cluster Resource Centre coordinators (CRCC), but now teachers are increasingly finding themselves reduced to the role of “data operators”.
Their tasks include registering students for various activities, updating daily class-wise attendance, or counting saplings under plantation drives, among other such activities. Such tasks are carried out during school hours and can sometimes extend beyond that.
“The teachers would join the WhatsApp group in their cluster, thinking it would be helpful to conducting academic sessions, but found that these groups are used for passing directives on non-academic work. In the digital age, such systems are essential, but if we are kept engaged in such activities, when do we find time to teach?” he asked.
Barthakur expressed how the constant demands have put pressure, particularly on the primary school teachers in the state.
For instance, in Assam, around 75 percent of lower primary schools function under two teachers, including the headmaster. The non-academic tasks keep at least one teacher fully occupied.
“In a primary school, for five classes, two teachers are required, including the headmaster. Because of such non-academic activities and frequent training sessions for teachers, the headmaster hardly finds time to teach. Instead, he has been reduced to a data operator, constantly occupied with his mobile phone,” said Barthakur.
He further said that the workload in some primary schools, where there is only one teacher, has also increased. Just one teacher has to “play the role of headmaster, teacher, chowkidar, and now a data operator.”
“The way we are being pressured at all levels, we don’t feel free to teach and that can affect students. We are always alert and stressed over what comes next—not just in school hours, but at all times,” he added.
‘Why are private schools being left out?’
Such tasks, Barthakur added, are not mandatory for private schools, leaving government school students and teachers at a disadvantage and “lagging behind”.
“Since schools reopened in August after the summer holidays, in nearly two months, the teachers haven’t been able to conduct classes properly. They are doing clerical work. Private schools are exempted from such activities, and as such, their teachers can teach without interruptions, and complete the curriculum,” said Barthakur.
“The state government avoids taking responsibility and shifts the blame to teachers when the academic performance of government schools falls short,” he added.
Trailokya Deka, president of the All Assam Association of Primary TET-passed Teachers, further questioned why private schools were being left out of it.
He cited the example of an initiative that was carried out in September. A notification was passed regarding the appointment of an assistant nodal officer to implement the Veer Gatha project, part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. Under it, students were encouraged to inculcate a sense of bravery and civic responsibility, drawing inspiration from the stories of gallantry award winners.
“If nationalism is what the government focuses on, then why leave out the private schools? We had to prepare the students and submit the essays the same day. Because of such non-curriculum tasks, we can’t complete the academic curriculum on time,” he said.
‘Under pressure’
According to Deka, the burden of such non-academic tasks has increased since 2021. He also said that teachers were being placed in high-stress situations with last-minute demands, and cited the example of what happened last week.
“When school reopened on 14 October after Durga Puja, we should have been celebrating the birth anniversary of Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbarua, a revered Assamese writer and playwright. Instead, we received an order on the night of Vijayadashami (12 October) to conduct periodic assessment tests (for classes 2-9) on the first day back. The question papers were also sent online.”
He said the teachers were not able to teach students effectively nor conduct exams properly. “We are somehow managing. It’s unclear who benefits from all this, or if there are political motives involved,” he said.
ASPTA member Goswami asserted that WhatsApp messages did not qualify as “official communication” and said such tasks should be handled by dedicated government personnel.
“With the entry of students in the Khel Maharan (launched 2022) and Nijut Moina schemes (launched 2024 for the empowerment of girl child), to meet targets for plantation drives, we are always busy in data entry operations. When will we follow the academic calendar?” he asked.
Among other activities this year, teachers had to organise a painting competition under a national campaign by the power ministry; cyclothons under the ‘Swachhata Hi Sewa’ campaign; promote ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’; cleanliness drives; and ensure participation of schools in ‘Kala Utsav’.
WhatsApp orders were also issued to prepare students for the ‘Rani Lakshmibai Atma Raksha Prashikshan’—a self-defence training programme for students in classes 9 to 12—and to conduct various district and block-level training programmes for teachers.
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)
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