Bengaluru: In its attempt to relieve teachers from administrative chores, the education department has decided to appoint data operators in its large-enrolment schools. These schools will also get a security guard.As many as 956 flagship govt schools will get these additional employees under the Samagra Shiksha scheme for 2026-27.The department said the appointment of data management assistants is intended to reduce the administrative burden on teachers, allowing them to devote more time to classroom teaching and student learning. The assistants will be responsible for maintaining student enrolment, attendance, academic performance and other records, besides uploading data to govt platforms such as UDISE+, SATS, MMS and other management information system portals. They will also assist headmasters in preparing reports and maintaining digital school records.However, teachers point out that a very small percentage of schools are being covered. “It is less than 2%. How does it help in the overall quality of schools? They need to scale it up immediately,” said a high school teacher.Teachers have been complaining of the large volume of administrative chores. “After every chapter there has to be a lesson-based assessment whose data has to be entered in the SATS portal. This is apart from regular attendance, midday meal data and others. All this leaves us with little time for actual teaching. That is why data operators are important,” she said.Candidates for the post of student data management assistant must possess a bachelor’s degree along with a computer course certificate and demonstrate knowledge of MS Office, spreadsheets, online portals and digital record management.Recruitment will be carried out locally by the school development and monitoring committee (SDMC) and the headmaster, with approval from the block education officer (BEO). A committee comprising the SDMC chairperson, headmaster/principal and the district computer programmer will conduct a practical test before selection.The govt has also sanctioned the appointment of security personnel in all 956 flagship schools to ensure the safety of students, staff and school property.The initiative, cleared under the Project Approval Board (PAB)-approved management, monitoring, evaluation and research (MMER) activities, aims to transform the selected schools into model institutions by strengthening both academic and physical infrastructure.They both will get an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month for 10 months. The department has set Aug 15 as the deadline for initiating recruitment.
