Teachers in Karnataka say census duty adds to workload, seek exemption

Bengaluru: With the census process resuming, govt school and pre-university (PU) college teachers in Karnataka say they are under strain, juggling academic responsibilities alongside enumeration duties. Teachers' associations have urged the govt to exempt them from census work.The state has begun preparations, with training for census under way. Master trainers were trained in March, while enumerators are being trained in three phases. The first phase was held from April 1 to 3, and the second phase began on April 4.Teachers, however, say the timing clashes with a packed academic calendar. The department of school education has directed PU lecturers to conduct online classes from April 1 to 20 for students preparing for the Common Entrance Test (CET), with around 25,000 students attending."Moreover, the II PU results are expected on April 7 or 8. Following this, revaluations will begin. Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) will conduct CET 2026 on April 23 and 24. The II PU exam-2 will be held from April 25 to May 8 as per the already fixed schedule," Ningegowda AH, president of Karnataka State Pre-University College Lecturers' Association, said. "…The National Testing Agency will conduct NEET 2026 on May 3. Only PU college lecturers will be deputed for all these tasks. We are under a heavy workload and the govt should exempt us from the census work," he added.The association has submitted a petition to the principal secretary of the school education department and the chief commissioner of Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA).Primary school teachers have raised similar concerns. Chandrashekara Nuggali, president of the Govt Primary School Teachers' Association, said a request to exempt teachers aged 50 and above was rejected. "We are requesting them again to consider this case. Many teachers above 50 live with health issues. Such taxing work like household census-taking is too much for them," he said.High school teachers are also preparing for SSLC evaluation work. The SSLC exams concluded on April 2, and around 70,000 teachers are expected to begin evaluation work from April 8. Results are tentatively scheduled for April 24, while the results of the annual exams for classes 8 and 9 are expected before April 10."We are torn between various responsibilities. Our primary duty is to teach and we should be allowed to do that properly. What is the point of lamenting that our children are not learning anything if we are earmarked for other responsibilities?" a high school teacher asked.