About 90% of school teachers noticed a sharp increase in their workload during the pandemic, a nation-wide survey has found.

The survey conducted by Countingwell, a maths learning app gathered responses from 400 teachers from across the country.  

Their study revealed that it is not just the students who have transitioned to online classes that faced a challenge. The study also revealed that 9 out of 10 (90%) teachers have seen a significant increase in their workload during the pandemic. 

Nearly 45% of the respondents in the survey reported an increase in work by at least two hours per day. “About one-third (30%) of the respondents feel that ready-made lesson plans and worksheets can help reduce this workload. Additionally, 54% of the respondents believe that learning apps aid them with tools and complement online classroom learning,” the study said.

The survey was focused on middle-school teachers from across India and tried to analyze aspects such as changes in teachers’ workload and tools that help teachers reduce it, the most efficient teaching method, and the rise of learning deficit in students.

Nirmal Shah, Cofounder of Countingwell said, “Given that there is no clarity on vaccination for children, most schools will have to continue to operate virtually for at least the next five to eight months. While there are abundant insights on the effects of online classes among students, particularly school going children, there are negligible studies on how teachers are coping with this sudden shift in teaching methods. Our survey aimed to fill this gap and sought to bring out their perspective on how far they have adjusted to online teaching, and what are their biggest challenges in teaching online effectively. We also wanted to help discover new solutions and approaches to aid online teaching techniques, as we firmly believe that edtech can be a useful and valuable tool for the teachers as much as for students. This sets the stage for our blended learning product we will soon introduce for schools across India.”

Teachers expressed concerns about the learning deficit among students. 83 % school teachers said that reduced syllabus, minimized peer interaction has led to the deficit. 

A majority of teachers also thought blended learning was the future. 65.5% of the teachers supported a blended mode of learning (a mix of online and offline classes) and believed it to be more effective. Only 10% of the teachers believed that a purely online teaching model was effective, and 25% continue to favour an offline-only teaching model.

Also read: Why upskilling teachers is the need of the hour