Only 58% school teachers took part in discussions on NEP, 65% overloaded with work: NAS 2021

NEW DELHI: At least 44 percent of school teachers in India do not have adequate workspace while 65 percent of them are overloaded with work, according to the National Achievement Survey (NAS)-2021 conducted by Union Education Ministry. The survey also found that just 58 percent of teachers participated in discussions around the new National Education Policy (NEP).

Over 5 lakh teachers of 1.18 lakh schools in 720 districts from both rural and urban areas participated in the survey which was conducted throughout the country on November 12 last year. The last NAS was held in 2017. According to the report, 44 percent of teachers do not have adequate workspace and 65 percent of them are overloaded with work. Only 42 percent of teachers participated in individual or collaborative research while just 58 percent of teachers participated in discussions around the new NEP, it said.

While 97 percent of teachers claimed to have job satisfaction, at least 92 percent of them believed that there is scope for professional development. "Sixty-five percent of teachers engaged in formal dialogue with colleagues on how to improve teaching in collaboration with Block Resource Centres (BRC) and Cluster Resource Centre (CRC) while 42 percent of teachers participated in mentoring or peer observation and coaching as part of BRCs and CRCs," the report said. The survey pointed out that at least 52 percent of teachers participated in professional development programmes conducted by DIETs, CBSE and NCERT.

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The NAS covered government, government-aided and private schools. The achievement tests along with the questionnaires -- pupil questionnaire, teacher questionnaire and school questionnaire -- were developed and translated into 22 different languages by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). This nationwide survey was administered by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on one single day at the same time. The survey was managed through the technology platform designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC).

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