As the rollout of Census 2027 begins across Karnataka, government school teachers and pre-university (PU) college lecturers deputed as enumerators have sought exemption from census work. They flagged mounting pressure due to a clash between census duties and peak academic responsibilities.
The Karnataka State Pre-University College Lecturers’ Association has petitioned the government, seeking relief from census work, citing an “unsustainable workload” during the examination and results season. In a representation to the School Education Department, the association highlighted that thousands of lecturers have already been assigned enumeration duties, with training underway in multiple phases even as academic commitments intensify.
Enumerator training is being conducted in three phases, from April 1 to 3, April 4 to 6, and April 7 to 9, ahead of the household survey scheduled between April 15 and May 15. However, this timeline directly overlaps with their academic responsibilities. The II PUC results are set to be declared on April 7, followed by recounting and revaluation processes. Simultaneously, lecturers are required to conduct online coaching classes for competitive exams such as CET, NEET and JEE from April 1 to 20, with four-hour daily sessions for around 25,000 science stream students.
School teachers, too, are grappling with overlapping duties. The SSLC examinations concluded on April 2, and evaluation is set to begin from April 8, with around 70,000 teachers involved. Results are expected on April 24. In addition, evaluation of answer sheets for Classes 8 and 9 has also begun, following the completion of annual exams on April 4.
Teachers and lecturers argue that juggling evaluation work, conducting special coaching classes, and carrying out census duties simultaneously is impractical. “It is difficult to evaluate answer sheets, work as enumerators and conduct online special classes simultaneously,” they said, urging the government to immediately relieve them from census responsibilities.
The association also noted that lecturers are already handling additional responsibilities such as Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, further compounding the workload during the summer months.
With enumeration work set to begin from April 16, educators have warned that the current schedule could affect both the quality of census data collection and academic outcomes, unless the government intervenes to rationalise duties or grant exemptions.