Teaching is said to be one of the noble professions that can nurture and build a country’s future. Without an educated teacher, a country’s future stands in limbo. “Despite considering teaching noble, the profession is underappreciated. The concerns of the teachers have largely remained the same and have worsened since then,” claims a teacher who is employed at a private school in Delhi.
Sometimes, the ratio of student to teacher is also not maintained in a classroom maybe to earn profits, says Anita Singh, who works at a private school in Delhi. “In case of any mishap happens in class, they blame us,” she added. A 2021 report by UNESCO stated that around 1.1 lakh schools in India are ‘single teacher entities’.
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On the condition of anonymity, a teacher from a reputed private school in Delhi said, “I have been working here for the last 13 years on ad-hoc basis. When I ask them to please make my job permanent, they (school authorities) say we are working on modalities. Maybe if I say anything after that, it can cost my job.” The 2021 UNESCO report found that around 42 per cent of Indian teachers in both private and government were working without a contract and earning an average salary of under Rs 10,000 a month.
The report also found that the situation in private schools is terrible with 69 percent of teachers working without contracts leaving them vulnerable to sudden unemployment, salary cuts, deferred pay, and an increased workload.
A dance teacher from a Mumbai private school claimed that she was asked by school authorities to teach Marathi to students as well. Sometimes she is involved in both academic and non-academic activities that take a toll on her well-being. “Especially, we are entrusted with the task of preparing students for special events or dance competitions along with academics, introducing an augmented layer of responsibility to our already demanding role,” she added.
LOW PAYING SALARIES
“I found the profession very low-paying with a majority of teachers in this school earning as high as Rs 20 thousand despite an experience of 9-10 years. Apart from academics, we are included in non-curricular activities as well. There is pressure from school administration to teach in a certain way,” said a teacher on the condition of anonymity.
A teacher from a Delhi private school informed News18 that, for freshers in Delhi, the salary is as low as Rs 10,000. She further alleged that the school administration asked teachers to sign on the cheque with a higher pay to show that they are receiving a decent salary which is not the case. “I think the government should ask teachers from different schools to verify whether they are receiving the amount. Without government supervision, private schools exploit and harass teachers,” she said.
“In the Covid Pandemic, we were given 50 per cent of our salaries and now everything is open but our left-out salaries are not still credited,” said Shalini Singh, a retired private teacher from Delhi’s Pitampura, who claims to travel to school every month to remind authorities for her due payments.
“My salary ranges from Rs 13,000 to 16,000. I live in Delhi and have to support my family amid inflation and our other needs. Further, I am a single mother of two daughters. Hence I need to save for their marriage expenses as well. Tuition provides me another source of income,” claims a teacher, who has an experience of over three decades.
PRESSURE FROM SCHOOL AUTHORITIES, LACK OF PARENTAL SUPPORT
There is a lot of pressure from school administrators and they are not considering CBSE norms, said Vanshika Singh, who teaches in a Delhi private school. “Schools are constantly facing issues in terms of funding. They are eager to adopt new technologies for students but without any guidelines for teachers. There is no self-time for us,” said the teacher.
“School authorities give more priority to lesson plans. To match the deadline, we have to take the work home. It creates an additional burden as back home we have to do daily chores and look after children. There is no work-life balance,” claims a teacher from Haryana’s private school.
In the process of interviewing, one of the common problems faced by teachers is the lack of parental support. A teacher stated that parents of the students consider education to be the sole responsibility of the school. “Sometimes, they even don’t check whether their child has completed the homework or learned the lesson. In case they score less, they blame us that we don’t put effort or are biased,” claims Anjali Singh.
Singh continued, “They fail to understand that it is a two-way process. In case I scold a student in front of the class, he or she comes with parents, the next day, with a complaint that the teacher has humiliated in class. A tiny matter reaches to the principal office. We are also an employee and reputation in front of heads matters a lot.”