Teachers' Census work to be treated as official on-duty work

MP, August 20, 2026, Kolkata: The government on Wednesday told the Calcutta High Court that it had withdrawn its August 3 notification directing teachers of state-run schools to undertake Census work after school hours.

Under the revised arrangement, Census duties assigned to teachers will be treated as official “on-duty” work, instead of being imposed on them beyond their regular working hours.

The submission was made before Justice Krishna Rao, who reserved his order after concluding the hearing on a petition challenging the deployment of schoolteachers for Census work.

The court questioned the rationale of assigning teachers both teaching and Census duties simultaneously, observing that teaching was their primary responsibility.

Meanwhile, the School Education Directorate has withdrawn its August 3 directive that asked teachers assigned to Census work to perform their duties after school hours or on weekends.

The latest order, issued on August 19, stated that the Commissioner of School Education had requested the Home and Hill Affairs Department to utilise teachers for Census duty while ensuring that students’ academic activities are not adversely affected.

Consequently, the Directorate has instructed district primary school councils and District Inspectors of Schools to follow the instructions of the Census authorities and treat the August 3 order as withdrawn.

The earlier directive had stated that Census work must not disrupt academic activities and had proposed that teachers perform the duties after regular class hours or on weekends.

Teachers’ organisations strongly opposed the arrangement, arguing that Census work must be treated as official duty rather than an additional workload outside regular working hours.