By Dr Prashant Thapliyal
Teachers’ Day is marked as a day of happiness and celebration in schools. On this day, senior students take classes and get 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.
The education sector of a country underlines its developmental state and the 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 the teacher is expected to behave more responsibly before both children and society. For this to happen, the teacher should feel pride in the self-chosen profession and get respect from society and administration that he or she deserves.
To proceed further, we should divide the teachers into 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 facilities, transport & house rent allowances, etc. They receive respectable amounts on superannuation in terms of GPF/CPF, gratuity and a decent sum as pension if they are covered under Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and a substantial one under New Pension Scheme/National Pension Scheme (NPS) and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). The only worry in their case is the good amount of time they devote in non-teaching jobs such as duty as Booth Level Officer (BLO), census, surveys, election duties, etc. It is tantamount to a situation of grounding an aircraft pilot. The real assignment of a teacher is to teach and guide disciples with up-to-date knowledge and content and their assessment should be based on this alone. Transfer policies also affect their functioning mostly as they find it difficult to adjust in the remote environment away from their homes. Poor infrastructure, dwindling strength of students and administrative callousness sees the high remuneration paid to teachers as a 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 as salary. The ad hoc nature of their work leaves a 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 does not trust them due to their temporary association with the school.
The private school teachers belong to the most vulnerable class of teachers. Not only are they 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 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 amiable conduct, be 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 every day 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 home 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 on and undisciplined lot of students without reprimanding, staring at or giving corporal punishment to them. Students are bold enough to threaten them with dire consequences if they prefer to discipline them more strictly. How hapless the teacher is that any community service is scrutinised by vigilantes and administrators and the teachers are more readily punished for such initiatives. A recent incident in Uttarakhand in which the Principal was suspended for 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 lifestyle related ailments, when a private school teacher is superannuated, s/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 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 brimming with enthusiasm and having flair for teaching to join this noble profession.
A recent 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 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 is an academician with experience of teaching in private schools, KVS, and presently at Army Cadet College, IMA, Dehradun.)
