Pune: Government Faces Backlash as Primary Teachers Reject Literacy Programme Responsibilities

Pimpri, 28th November 2023: Teachers in primary schools across Pimpri Chinchwad city have staged a boycott of the Navbharat Literacy Programme, expressing their dissatisfaction with the additional responsibilities imposed on them. Despite the three-month existence of the ordinance implementing the scheme, the government has struggled to gain the cooperation of teachers, signalling a potential failure in the effective execution of the plan.

Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 explicitly prohibits teachers from engaging in extracurricular activities, with exceptions for election and census-related duties. Mahesh Palkar, Director of the Planning Department at the Directorate of Primary Education, emphasized that teachers should not be burdened with illiterate survey work, as it hampers their ability to focus on academic responsibilities. In a circular, Palkar urged teachers to support the literacy initiative, emphasizing the importance of turning the illiterate into literate citizens.

Despite the plea, primary teachers, numbering 982 under the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, have chosen to boycott the scheme, echoing discontent expressed by teachers across the state. Secondary school teachers have joined the dissent, with the Maharashtra State Secondary and Higher Secondary School Principals’ Association officially requesting their exclusion from the illiteracy survey. The association has warned of a collective boycott if their demand is not met.

Teachers cite the strain caused by a lack of recruitment in the past decade, resulting in a shortage of both teaching and non-teaching staff in secondary schools. With additional subjects being assigned to available teachers, the survey work only intensifies the pressure. Many teachers, citing age-related constraints, find it challenging to participate in the survey.

District Headmasters’ Associations in Maharashtra have also voiced their demand for exemption from the survey work. If not granted, the Principals’ Corporation has threatened to join the boycott. Despite three months of discussions between the government and organizational representatives, a resolution remains elusive. The government’s attempt to involve private organizations in the campaign has not yielded the desired success, as teachers continue to resist the imposition of additional duties.

Sanjay Jauane, President of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Primary Teachers Union, emphasized that teachers are opposed to the extra workload imposed by the government. While discussions persist at the government level, the stance taken by state organization officials will play a crucial role in shaping the outcome of this standoff.