Mumbai’s state and civic schools must conduct a manual headcount of students during exams to verify Pavitra Portal data, as per the education department. Officials said counts will occur on Geography exam or physical test days. Teachers’ bodies, including former association president Mahendra Ganpule, warned the move adds workload amid marksheet deadlines and election duties.

Mumbai: A manual headcount of students will be taken in all the state and civic schools in the exams season to verify the student count on the Pavitra Portal.

The letter from the state education department stated that the administrators or the teacher will have to count the students in the school on the days they attempt for the Geography exams or on the day of physical aptitude test.

The school principals association wrote a letter to the administration stating that it will be an additional burden on the teachers to verify the counts in all the classes and update the respective authority. “The teachers are required to prepare the marksheets by May first week, in addition the teachers have been roped in of booth level officer duty and this will only be an additional burden,” said Mahendra Ganpule, former president of the school principals association.

“The authorities have anyway been cutting down the appointments of teachers based on the students' count. If there is a mismatch in the student counts it will further complicate the situation. This will also allow the administration to lower the number of teachers in the school,” said Ganpule.