Punjab education minister directs no non-teaching duties for teachers; emphasis on classroom presence

NEW DELHI: Taking a serious note that teachers are being deployed even for routine clerical and administrative tasks, Punjab School Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains has written to the state chief secretary, saying no teacher should be assigned non-teaching duties. If unavoidable, prior written approval of the Education Department is mandatory, Bains said on Saturday.

Teachers are not mere government employees, they are the torchbearers of knowledge, entrusted with the sacred duty of shaping Punjab's future, he wrote. He said it has come to his notice that in some districts, teachers are being deployed for routine clerical and administrative tasks, which is unacceptable. Section 27 of the RTE Act clearly prohibits engaging teachers in non-educational work, except census, disaster relief and elections. Their presence in classrooms is non-negotiable, he further said.

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"Our teachers must be allowed to do what they do best -nurture & educate our children. Their time belongs in classrooms, not in files or fields," Bains wrote on X on Saturday. To enforce the directive, Bains has asked the chief secretary "to issue clear and categorical instructions to all administrative departments and district authorities, mandating that teachers are not to be assigned any non-teaching duty, except those explicitly permitted under Section 27 of the RTE Act, 2009".