Pune: Students in Maharashtra govt, local body and aided schools will get more structured support from parents under a new education department directive requiring schools to hold four parent educational meetings every academic year.The meetings in July, Oct, Jan and April, will focus on students’ academic progress, attendance, learning difficulties, health, nutrition and participation in school activities. While the department expects the meetings to improve parent involvement in children’s education, teachers have raised concerns that another mandatory activity could further eat into classroom teaching time.The directive, issued by the education commissionerate on Aug 27, applies to primary and secondary schools across all mediums and managements. The meetings are to be conducted at the school level, preferably on the first Saturday of the specified months.The department said the initiative is aimed at creating regular dialogue between schools and parents rather than treating parent interaction as a routine formal exercise. Teachers have been told to discuss students’ educational progress, assessment methods, reading habits, home study environment, attendance, behaviour and difficulties faced in learning.Parents will also be informed about govt educational schemes, school activities, annual plans, competitions and other programmes. The meetings are expected to increase their participation in areas such as children’s health, nutrition, cleanliness, safety and child protection.The directive also places emphasis on foundational literacy and numeracy under the Nipun Maharashtra campaign. Parents are expected to participate in activities related to reading, writing and numeracy and support children’s learning at home.The education department said the initiative is aimed at creating regular dialogue between schools and parents rather than treating parent interaction as a routine formal exercise. Teachers have been told to discuss students’ educational progress, assessment methods, reading habits, home study environment, attendance, behaviour and difficulties faced in learning.The department said regular interaction would help teachers understand students’ interests, family educational environment and difficulties, while allowing parents to better understand their children’s progress and support them accordingly.However, teacher representative Girish Samant said schools may not have enough time to conduct additional activities without affecting teaching. In a letter to education commissioner Sachindra Pratap Singh on Saturday, Samant said teachers were already under pressure because of census and SIR-related duties.“The time now available should be used only for teaching,” Samant said, pointing out that repeated activities reduce teaching and learning time and can affect the quality of education.He said the 2026-27 academic year was particularly challenging for teachers, with census work in May followed by full-time SIR duties between June and August. “Students have suffered, while teachers have also faced adverse physical and mental stress because of such work,” he said.Samant also questioned a uniform approach to parent meetings and suggested that schools should be given greater freedom to decide how they are conducted.“If the objective of the parent meeting is good, decisions regarding it should be left to the schools,” he said, adding that schools and teachers needed adequate breathing space to focus on students.The department, meanwhile, has told headmasters, teachers and school management committees to ensure parent participation and submit consolidated reports of the activities periodically.
