TEACHERS GETTING LOW SALARIES IN INDIAN PRIVATE SCHOOLS

While a teacher’s profession is referred to be the noblest of all, it is also one of the most underpaid professions in India. Indian school education system has not only failed to provide a creative and healthy space for the all round development of children, but has also failed to provide decent salaries to teachers serving in schools

Teachers in government schools are still in a better position compared to those working in private schools. There are teachers who are paid between Rs 1200 to 5000 monthly for their services. Most of them leave their houses for work around 8 in the morning and return at 5. Serving for around seven hours a day and earning such a low amount puts a big question mark on the labor laws in the country.

The government has set minimum eligibilities for teaching in schools like JBT for primary classes and B.Ed with TET for higher classes, without fulfilling these basic requirements one cannot enter as a teacher in these schools no matter how skilled you are or how many research degrees you possess.

The average salary of teachers in India is around 16000 as per the 2018 data, but when one looks closely at the working of private schools, the purse of every educator raises a grave concern.

While the condition of private school teachers was already poor, it was further worsened during the year of pandemic. It was during this period when the country was adjusting with digitalization. On one hand there are schools which lack even the basic infrastructures, and on the other hand we have state universities, with IT cells, which still have a long way to go to cope up with the digital world.

Getting back to the school education system, these underpaid or even unpaid educators (during the lockdown period) were asked to take online classes. Well, the idea was good, but only for those who had good digital devices.

Akash (name changed) a PGT working in a private school located in Himachal earned 10,000 a month before the pandemic. He suffered a 50% cut in his salary during the lockdown period while he was trying hard each and every day to teach through online mode. The moment lockdown was lifted, the whole staff of his school, including him, was asked to assign homework to his students, then collect their notebooks from their door steps, check their note books and then return these notebooks in the evening.

These schools have not only failed to provide decent salaries to the teachers, but have also failed in treating the educators with respect.