Mapping Workflows and Perceptions of Delhi’s Public School Teachers

Abstract

Two hundred public school teachers with additional, non-teaching charges were surveyed in Delhi between December 2017 and April 2018 to assess their time use and work-related perceptions. A mismatch between teachers’ expectations and the range of work they carried out was uncovered. Job preparation and incentives were not found to be substantively aligned with teaching-learning goals. The time use assessment revealed that time spent on routine school management activities was needlessly high, even as teachers shared details of how they juggled and distributed work related to additional charges among peers. The narrative of feeling overburdened by non-teaching tasks could also be traced to poor planning and management at levels above the school.

Appendix: Teacher Time Allocation and Work Perceptions Survey Questionnaire

1. Background Information

1.1 Name

1.2 Phone no.

1.3 Year since you have been teaching in this school

1.4 Total years taught in a government school

1.5 Total years taught in a private school

1.6 Employment status (Permanent/Guest/Contract)

1.7 Educational qualification

1.8 Professional qualification

1.9 Subject(s) taught

1.10 Standard(s) and sections taught

1.11 Additional Charges, if any

1.12 Approximate number of periods taught on an average week

1.13 School name

1.14 School shift

1.15 School timings

1.16 Number of Periods (NA if MCD school)

1.17 Date of interview

1.18 Special Occasion/Comments

2. Perceptions Around Teaching Profession

2.1 What made you join this profession?

2.2 What do you like most about your job as a teacher?

2.3 What is the least favourite activity you have to do as a teacher/Part of your job you dislike the most?

2.4 Who according to you is a model/good teacher or “Adarsh teacher/Achcha teacher”?

2.5 If you have taught in private school, what led you to you shift to a government school?

2.6 What are the major hurdles you face as a teacher in your school?

2.7 Apart from the difficulties listed above, are there any other difficulties you face while teaching inside classrooms?

2.8 As a teacher, what is the topmost thing on your mind while you are teaching?

2.9 Why is the answer to the above question (2.8) on top of your mind while you are teaching?

2.10 We will now list some of the activities that teachers in government schools often carry out. We would like your opinion on which of these you believe are part of a teacher’s core or primary responsibility; which of these are part of a teacher’s secondary duties; and which are the activities that you believe teachers should not be engaging in.

• a. Preparing lesson plans

• b. Invigilation, exam duties

• c. Designing activities for student learning

• d. Creating and submitting lists related to student attendance, examinations

• e. Being involved in distributing uniform, scholarship, other grants (creation of lists, verifying disbursement amounts, follow up with stakeholders)

• f. Being involved in opening and closing of bank accounts of students

• g. Registering students for new Aadhaar cards, filling Aadhaar forms for students, ensuring Aadhaar related seeding of students

• h. Responding to circulars issued by the Education Department

• i. Uploading student information online (for example, UDISE related)

• j. Assisting in health checkup and distributing medicines to students

• k. Ensuring midday meals are properly distributed to students

• l. Attending workshops and trainings organized by the government

2.11 Total number of days spent attending trainings/seminars in the last two years?

3. On Recordkeeping and Paperwork

3.1 Please list the names and number of records maintained by you? How frequently are these updated?

3.2 Do you think paperwork takes up a lot of your time or not? If yes, can you explain why?

3.3 How do you think this can be changed? Any suggestions?

3.4 How frequently do you take back work from school to finish in your home? Why?

3.5 On which months does the volume of paperwork increase? Why does it increase during this time of the year?

3.6 Have you been assigned to any of the following activities in the last two years? When? How many days were you involved?

• a. Election Duty

• b. Census Duty

• c. Other official duty (name to be noted)

• d. Other official Survey (name to be noted)

• e. Disaster Relief Duty

4. Other Opinion Based Questions

4.1 To what extent do you agree with the following statements? (Options—Strongly agree; Somewhat agree; Somewhat disagree; Strongly disagree)

• a. Completing the syllabus on time is the most important task for a teacher

• b. To do well, along with regular school, students also need private tuition

• c. If children don’t learn well, it is equally the parents’ responsibility

• d. I feel my salary is adequate

• e. Teachers whose students score more should get higher salary

• f. Teachers whose students score lesser should get lesser salary

• g. I feel I need more training on teaching methods

4.2 Do you think current parameters on which teachers are assessed are fair?

4.3 On which parameters is your work as a teacher assessed by your HoS?

4.4 What, according to you, could be fair parameters to assess teacher performance?