New Delhi: Govt teachers are living in a constant state of interruption, their core job of teaching repeatedly sidelined by endless non-academic duties. Many describe being pulled out of classrooms for surveys, election duty, health drives, administrative errands and now census duties, often at short notice, making consistency in the classroom difficult to sustain.The ongoing houselisting phase of the census, which is expected to continue till the end of Sept, is the latest addition to this workload. Teachers are assigned to document details related to housing and basic facilities, a task that involves door-to-door visits and careful recording of data.“Orders have already come and deployment is happening for the houselisting phase. The authorities just issue directions; they don’t assess the consequences,” said Ajay Veer Yadav, general secretary of Govt School Teachers’ Association. “Later, if board exam results get affected, the same system will cite a shortage of teachers.”Educators point out that these responsibilities seldom come as one-off assignments. Across the year, they are expected to juggle a range of roles like working on election duties such as voter list revisions, attending official training and managing various administrative tasks.The cumulative effect, they say, is a growing sense of fatigue and a creeping gap in students’ learning. Lesson planning becomes difficult when schedules are unpredictable and many teachers admit to feeling a sense of guilt about the impact on their students, even when these decisions are beyond their control. Accountability, they argue, is often placed on teachers for academic outcomes, but institutional support remains limited.Yadav pointed out that while authorities claimed census work was to be carried out outside school hours, the reality was far more demanding. “If they tell you to work before school and after school, how much can you realistically do?” he said. “In practice, teachers will be out for most of the day. Instead of assigning such work to dedicated staff, it is pushed onto teachers. The compensation is nominal — around Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 for nearly 50 days.”In some cases, teachers are temporarily taken off classroom duty; in others, they go for other work after their regular teaching schedule. The shift from classroom teaching to fieldwork also requires a rapid change in roles. School administrators acknowledge the strain. “If 20 teachers are sent for training at once, it inevitably increases the burden on those who remain,” said Sunita, a govt school principal. “Managing teaching becomes difficult. That said, duties like elections, census and disaster management are mandatory for us.”Some, however, have raised concerns about the long-term impact on schooling. Education activist and lawyer Ashok Agarwal said the issue had been challenged in court, but current rules still permitted such deployment. “Teachers are being assigned these tasks unnecessarily. Schools do not appear to prioritise children’s learning,” he said.Agarwal further noted that the problem was not new. “In some cases, teachers are marked present in school records, but are actually working elsewhere. On paper, everything appears normal, but the system is under strain.”Teachers themselves warn that repeated diversion to non-academic duties disrupts academic continuity, particularly in a system already dealing with staff shortages. The concern has been flagged before. In 2019, Delhi High Court had observed that teachers couldn’t be routinely burdened with non-academic work.“Every time we are pulled out of classrooms for rallies, election work or clerical duties, it is our students who suffer,” said a teacher from a govt school in south Delhi. “We became teachers to teach, not to fill registers or attend non-academic assignments. How long will education remain the last priority?”The authorities, however, maintain that the deployment falls within the legal framework. In 2025, in response to a plea by Delhi govt schoolteachers challenging their appointment as booth-level officers, Election Commission of India told Delhi High Court that there is no restriction on such assignments following recent amendments to its guidelines. “The changes allow the appointment of booth-level officers from among group C and above govt employees, including teachers, provided they are registered voters in the area concerned,” an official said. The commission had also indicated that such duties were to be carried out outside regular teaching hours.For many educators, the issue ultimately comes down to balance. Critics argue that unless systemic changes are made, the quality of education in govt schools will continue to be affected. “There has to be a solution,” Agarwal said. “You cannot keep burdening teachers with non-academic work at the cost of children’s education. At the very least, ensure that teachers are able to do the job they were appointed for.”