More EMIS data entry work: TN school teachers say unable to focus on students

CHENNAI: Already burdened with the time-consuming, non-teaching task of data entry under the Educational Management Information System (EMIS), school teachers have now been asked to add additional information in the system.

EMIS, a common platform that connects Tamil Nadu schools, teachers and students, was started as an initiative to keep records of everything connected to schools, besides data on students, teachers and schools. However, over the past few years, teachers have been complaining that the EMIS entries, either through mobile phones or through computer systems, consume many hours, putting additional burden on them.

Going by a school education department source, the state government is set to outsource the work from the next academic year. But meanwhile, they are to be continued by the teaching staff.

Teachers lament that the additional information the school education department has now asked them to update -- they concern regular infrastructure needs of schools -- runs into more than 10 pages.

"Each page contains several options, none of which we can skip. This eats into our time," a senior government school teacher at Poonari, seeking anonymity, told DT Next.

He said the EMIS data entry job was initially given only to teachers who were recruited for computer operations. "However, now the job has been assigned to all teachers. It is time-consuming because the entries have to be error-free," he added.

The Tamil Nadu private nursery, primary, matriculation, higher secondary, and CBSE schools’ association general secretary KR Nandhakumar said teachers are already facing flak for entering improper data. “Now this additional work will have a negative bearing on their classroom deliveries; their primary job is to prepare students for the next grade,” he added.

Alleging that EMIS data collection has backfired for several schools, he said, “they (state government authorities) collect the data from EMIS and issue orders against common information, but those orders may not be favourable for all the schools."

He said the government should ensure that all the entered data is accurate.

A senior official from the School Education Department revealed that the government has received several suggestions from teachers, saying dedicated staff should be appointed for the EMIS data entry job so that classroom sessions will not be compromised.

"Hence, the data entry work will be outsourced from the next academic year," he said, adding "the government has already taken steps in this direction."