Explainer:Updating diaries daily on MIS portal will reduce quality of education: Teachers
With the Directorate of School Education making updating of teacher diary on the Management Information System (MIS) portal of the Education Department mandatory, teachers of government schools across the state are unhappy and have protested across the state. Earlier, they used to fill it manually. The new system came into effect from April 9, brewing resentment among the teachers.
What are the directives given to school heads?
On April 8, the Directorate of School Education directed all District Education Officers (DEOs) and District Elementary Education Officers (DEEOs) to ensure the compliance of updating teacher diary on the MIS portal from April 9. School heads have been instructed to issue monthly completion certificates, mentioning that the teacher has submitted his/her diary online. They have also been given a dashboard to monitor the progress of diary submission.
Why are teachers opposing the update system?
The teachers argue that they are already overburdened with multiple non-teaching responsibilities such as election duties, examination duties, training and workshops. The new online system is impractical and time-consuming, especially for the teachers handling multiple subjects and classes. They say updating diaries on a daily basis on the MIS portal is logistically difficult for the teachers handling various subjects. They argue that the portal-based system will reduce the quality of teaching and burden them with additional technical tasks as it takes 40-45 minutes to update a dairy on the portal. Many believe it will divert attention from their core responsibility—teaching. The teachers argue that the new National Education Policy (NEP) emphasises reducing the burden of non-academic tasks on the teachers. Contrary to the NEP’s vision, the Education Department is increasing the burden of non-teaching responsibilities on the teachers.
What do teachers say about manual submissions?
The teachers say they have never opposed the manual diary system and have been updating these without fail for the past several years. The teachers fill their manual diary while holding classes. The issue, they clarify, is not about documentation but about impracticality and the additional workload involved in digitisation without sufficient infrastructure or consultation.
What is the plan of action by the teachers now?
The teachers’ organisations have opposed the directive mandating the digitalisation of the teacher diary through the MIS portal. They argue that before implementing such orders, the government should have examined the ground realities and held consultations with the teacher associations. The teachers under the banner of the Haryana School Lecturer Association (HSLA) protested on Thursday at the district headquarters across the state and handed over a memorandum to the DEO/DEEO. They even warned that if the government did not withdraw its order to write the teacher diary on the MIS portal, they might be compelled to launch a state-level agitation. The issue is expected to escalate if the department does not address the concerns raised by the teachers in a timely manner.
Haryana Tribune