Rajasthan Teachers Voice Strong Opposition to Education Department's New Performance Directive

Jaipur- Teachers across Rajasthan have voiced strong opposition to the education department's latest directive requiring detailed board examination results from roughly 100,000 teachers.

The initiative, impacting over 19,000 secondary and senior secondary schools, mandates submission of performance data via the Shala Darpan portal by November 16, with warnings of disciplinary action for non-compliance.

The teaching community argues that this directive shows the department's misplaced priorities. Schools are already facing a severe 36.85% vacancy rate in teaching positions, a gap exacerbated by a burden of non-teaching duties. In many schools, two to three teachers remain permanently engaged in online administrative work, handling responsibilities such as distributing iron tablets, sanitary napkins, and fulfilling roles in the animal and population census, along with BLO duties.

The department’s new performance measures set strict benchmarks, requiring principals to achieve over 50% results in Class 10 and 60% in Class 12 to avoid notices, with teachers under even tighter scrutiny. Class 12 subject teachers must achieve 70% results, while Class 10 teachers need 60%. Recognizing excellence is even more challenging: principals must attain a 90% success rate, and teachers are expected to deliver perfect 100% results for recognition.

Teachers further express frustration over the department’s lack of appreciation for exceptional performers, with no honors given to schools or teachers for high results since 2007-08. Despite this, disciplinary action against underperforming teachers remains frequent.

20,000 Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools

Rajasthan has 19,740 secondary and senior secondary schools with 10,494 principals currently in place. For the board classes—10th and 12th—there are 65,709 senior teachers and 37,679 lecturers. Each of them is required to upload their performance data on the Shala Darpan portal.

These numbers highlight the significant staffing shortages that teachers argue should be the department's primary concern.

For the 2023-24 academic session, teachers, lecturers, and principals responsible for teaching 10th and 12th grades must submit their verified board examination results on the portal’s “Result” tab by November 16. Once submitted, the data must be locked. The department has also issued a warning: disciplinary action will be taken against the principals of schools that fail to upload the required results by this deadline.

Criteria for Outstanding Performance

A principal’s performance will be considered “outstanding” if their school achieves a 90% or higher pass rate. For teachers of 10th and 12th grades, a perfect 100% pass rate will be required to earn this distinction.

Teachers argue that before 2008, an 80% or higher pass rate was considered a mark of quality, but since then, even if schools achieve a 100% result, principals and staff have not received recognition or certificates of appreciation. Instead, minor issues are pointed out and dismissed without acknowledgment.

Additionally, the focus on online tasks has become a priority for the education department, overshadowing academic activities. As a result, teachers are burdened with non-academic duties such as distributing iron tablets and sanitary napkins, conducting BLO tasks, and participating in animal and population censuses. These responsibilities have taken a toll on children’s education, with two to three teachers in each nodal school spending their entire day on computer-based administrative work.

Siyaram Sharma, State Administrative President of the Rajasthan Teachers Union Siyaram, captured the prevailing sentiment: "While we support strict action against fraudulent practices and dummy candidates in recruitment, the lack of recognition for honest and dedicated teachers is demoralizing. The media often highlights negative incidents involving teachers, which undermines the reputation of those working with integrity and dedication."