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Teacher’s Day is marked as a day of happiness and celebration in the schools. On this day senior students take the classes and have a feel of the demanding nature of this profession and ultimately end the day by entertaining their teachers through cultural events, showering love in the form of gifts and refreshments. This was the routine in all the schools I worked with and continues till date elsewhere also, I believe.
Education sector of country underlines the developmental state of a country and major onus of this lies on the shoulders of teachers who directly interact with their students. A child sees her teacher as a role model and he is expected (teacher) to behave more responsibly in front of both, the children and society. For this to happen, the teacher should feel pride in his self-chosen profession and he gets respect from the society and administration that he deserves.
To proceed further, we should divide the teachers in three categories- Regular teachers in Government schools, teachers on contractual basis in Government schools and private school teachers. Most of the regular teachers in Government schools choose the profession by choice as they are handsomely paid; get medical facility, transport & house rent allowances etc. They receive respectable amount on superannuation in terms of GPF/CPF, gratuity and a decent sum as pension if they are covered under Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and substantial one under New Pension Scheme/National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). Only worry part in their case is that good amount of time they devote in non-teaching jobs such as duty of Booth Level Officer (BLO), census, surveys, election duties etc. It is tantamount to a situation of grounding an aircraft pilot. Real assignment for a teacher is to teach and guide his disciples with up to date knowledge and content and his assessment should be based on this only. Transfer policies also affect their working style mostly as they find it difficult to adjust in the remote environment away from their homes quickly. Poor infrastructure, dwindling strength of students and administrative callousness sees the high remuneration paid to teachers as financial burden and this leads to insufficient strength of teachers in the schools, slow recruitment process of regular teaching staff and induction of contractual faculty members as replacements who receive a paltry sum a salary. Adhoc nature of their work leaves negative impact on school environment as they are trying hard to get some respectable job elsewhere and focus less on school affairs in general. They are also not given important assignments as the school administration do not have trust on them due to their temporary association with the school.
The private school teachers belong to the most vulnerable class of teachers. Not only they are underpaid in general, they are overworked too and are under scrutiny round the clock. They are expected to exhibit good conduct, being the role models of their disciples. Slightest of folly of any kind is always unpardonable and consequently severely punishable and even may end with their ouster from their positions. They are expected to dress decently, exhibit gentleman ship with amiable conduct, up to date in knowledge, prompt in correction work and evaluation, showing enthusiastic involvement in co-curricular and extracurricular activities and bear the brunt of disgruntled parents more often. A private school teacher takes five to six periods everyday teaching a class of 40 to 45 students or sometimes more than that, doing corrections, preparing children for some activities, teaching extra classes for slow learners, preparing question papers, question banks, capsule courses, study materials etc. They carry work at homes and with fully loaded routine are expected to possess calm demeanor and exhibit 100% efficiency in all respects. They have to deal more often with the rowdy, doted and undisciplined lot of students without reprimanding, staring at or giving corporal punishment to them. Students are bold enough to challenge them of dire consequences if they prefer to discipline them more strictly. How hapless the teacher is that any community service is scrutinized by vigilante and administrators and the teachers are more readily punished for such initiatives. Recent incident in Uttarakhand where the Principal was suspended for a community work done by the students treating it as a gross violation under child labour act, speaks volumes about the pathetic condition of teachers.
After working for years, tirelessly developing multiple life style related ailments, when a private school teacher is superannuated, he gets a paltry sum of employee provident fund (EPF) contribution along with a meagre monthly pension mostly in four figures. Only those teachers are entitled for EPF contribution and pension, who are extended with this facility at the schools. As under the labour act, it’s not binding upon the employer to deduct EPF if salary of the employee is more than fifteen thousand rupees. This dissuades the talented eligible candidates brimmed with enthusiasm and having flair for teaching to join this noble profession.
Latest survey conducted by the school education department revealed that more than 60% of the parents surveyed prefer to enroll their wards in private schools, showing grim picture of the Government run schools. Moreover some of the administrators at block levels and above are more concerned about regulating the private schools due to their vested interests of fleecing money from them by even pointing out the slightest of shortcoming.
Education is the key sector for the development of a country and the way this important area is dealt with presently, needs a thorough review and necessary improvements for the betterment of students, teachers, parents and society on the whole.
Dr Prashant Thapliyal
Academician with experience
of teaching in private schools,
KVS and presently at
Army Cadet College IMA Dehradun
