Government school teachers in Patna are a relieved lot. The Bihar government has announced that teachers will not be roped in for any form of survey or data collection work henceforth.

Vijay Prakash, principal secretary in the state Planning and Development Department, told rediff.com that the decision came following complaints by teacher organisations and educational experts stating that engaging teachers in works outside their school was hampering studies.

According to him, the government has decided to create a pool of around 80,000 'statistical volunteers' for these works instead of engaging school teachers.

Prakash said that Bihar has become the first state in the country to create a pool of accredited statistical volunteers.

Welcoming the Nitish Kumar-led government's decision, Mahender Singh, who teaches in a government school in Naubatpur, said, "We are upbeat; we can now only focus on teaching."

Another teacher, Jamal Ansari said that the teachers will now get sufficient time to ensure that syllabus is completed. It will also give ample time to teachers to interact with students on a daily basis.