Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government has decided to rescind its earlier decision to make primary school teachers work eight hours a day.
During its Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, the Vijay Rupani government decided to withdraw its August 27 notification that made an 8-hour working day mandatory for primary school teachers.
The government had issued this notification under the Right to Education (RTE) Act (2009) that mandated a 45-hour teaching work per week, including preparation, for primary school teachers.
It required them to work for 8 hours from Monday to Friday and 5 hours on Saturdays.
However, the teachers protested against it across the state. Since women comprised a majority of the primary school teaching workforce, they raised a number of issues, including duties other than teaching, and demanded a compulsory weekly holiday on Sunday.
“Keeping in view the requests received from teachers, especially from women teachers, the State government has decided to let them follow the 10.30 am-5 pm schedule,” State Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said.
(Avya Mathur)