Private schools have set new standards in exploiting teachers across the nation — as all that they draw is a subsistence wage for educating children.
The Minimum Wages Act does not cover the private unaided schools in the country, and most fall outside the control of the education departments of the states. And, no regulatory authority or legislation is in place to ensure payment of the minimum wages for skilled workers or teachers.
Sharada (name changed), a teacher in a CBSE-affiliated private school in a rural area of Thrissur district of Kerala, draws a salary of Rs 4,000 and teaches children in class XI.
Another teacher in a private school in Poochetti block, which is a part of a reputable network operating across the country and has been approved for CBSE affiliation, draws the same amount. She gets leave for only 10 days in the entire year, works till 4 pm every day and comes home loaded with work and assignments for the next day. According to her, there are 75 teachers in her school and at least 40 get less than Rs 5,000. Teachers are supposed to tell the inspectors their salaries, but no one dares to speak the truth. They are made to sign on vouchers that they get a certain amount, but the money the teachers get is one-third of the amount. They are told they get the Provident Fund and are promised the Employees’ State Insurance, but no one has yet seen any account of the money accrued to PF. Most don’t even get an appointment letter. This is the case in a state where an unskilled worker gets Rs 500 for a day’s work.
In 2008, a committee set up following a high court order, surveyed 150 recognised private unaided schools and found these shocking details: Only half of the 433 teachers surveyed got appointment letters, and about 45 per cent got maternity leaves with salaries. About 206 teachers were paid between Rs 1,000-5,000 a month and about 100 got less than Rs 3,000.
A third of these schools denied salaries to teachers during vacations. Half were CBSE- and ICSE-affiliated ones, which bring out the majority of students who make it to engineering and medical colleges, the report says. The Left-led Kerala government did nothing after the report was out, says one of its authors, A A Baby.
“We had asked for a regulatory law and a welfare fund for teachers. The report also looked at salaries paid in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. It said Delhi paid salaries between Rs 10,000-24,000, while in Karnataka it was above Rs 7,000. It was the worst in Tamil Nadu where there were way too many unrecognised schools. In Kerala, there are 60,000 teachers in recognised unaided schools, while there would be three times this number in unrecognised unaided private schools, which were not covered by the survey,” says Baby.
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Former education minister M A Baby blames the private sector and the Centre for the difficulty in regulating private schools. “The states are forced to remain mute spectators in the case of CBSE- and ICSE-affiliated schools. Even the Supreme Court has given entrepreneurs in the field of education a free hand. If states tried to bring these schools under labour laws, the Centre would oppose it,” he says.
According to Vinod Raina, member, Central Advisory Board on Education, the crux of the problem is the absence of a regulatory authority for education. “If telecom and power companies can have regulatory bodies, why should private education institutions not come under regulation?” he questions.
He cites the Unaided Private Schools Regulatory Act in Tamil Nadu as the only instance of such a legislation in the country. But A A Baby says politicians and MLAs own the majority of these schools and, hence, the law is ineffective.
In Orissa, activist Ranjan Panda talks about schools and colleges affiliated to UGC paying salaries as low as Rs 500-3,000 to teachers. He cites a UGC-recognised college in Sambalpur where the principal gets Rs 3,000.
Raina says the problem is that while 60 per cent of private education in Kerala is controlled by the minority groups that control state politics, in other states, Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly as well as their kin own private institutions and, hence, a law never takes shape to regulate these managements. About 22 per cent of MPs in the previous UPA government owned private educational institutions, and they resisted even the Right to Education Act, which had some regulatory provisions, Raina says.
So, while we may chant Tasmai Sri Gurave Namah with every breath, the guru dakshina is the last of our priorities.