New Delhi, Aug 12 (KNN)  To ensure that teachers maintain their professional status, they should not be deployed for non-educational purposes as per the Right to Education Act.

"No teacher shall be deployed for non-educational purposes other than the population census, disaster relief duties or duties relating to elections to the local authority or the state legislatures or Parliament, as per the Right to Education Act (RTE), 2009," Union minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor said, in an official release. 

He further added, “Knowledge Commission has noted that the imposition of a wide range of non-teaching duties, such as that of manning poll booths and collecting data for surveys, cuts into the available teaching time and also undermines the professional status of teachers.” 

He said that such activities should be shared amongst a wider range of public employees or even those hired specifically for the purpose and the burden of such work on teachers must be reduced.  (KNN/SD)