Higher secondary teachers will boycott clerical duties from September 5: AHSTA

Higher secondary school teachers will stay away from office and other such duties that adversely affect academic activities, the Aided Higher Secondary Teachers’ Association (AHSTA) has said.

Higher secondary teachers will not perform any clerical jobs from September 5, the AHSTA said in a statement on Monday.

The union said that 35 years after the setting up of higher secondary in schools, it did not have any clerical staff, peon, or librarians and their work was done by teachers, Principals, and lab assistants.

With every passing year, the burden of such work on teachers who taught between 14 and 25 periods a week and Principals who took classes was increasing.

Appeals to the government to address this situation had fallen on deaf ears, forcing the teachers to decide on boycotting clerical duties.

In an apparent reference to department circulars issued in connection with the matter recently, the AHSTA said making teachers do clerical and office work instead of focussing on teaching students who would appear for public exams at the end of the academic year was an injustice to students.

Posts of clerks, peons, full-time menial worker, and librarian had been sanctioned in high schools as well in colleges, the AHSTA pointed out.