Dear PM Modi, you want 'good' teachers, but what about their salaries?

While Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Varanasi visit last week emphasised on the need for good teachers in the country, the grim situation for those involved in teaching in schools in India shows us why not many in the next generation want to take up the profession. Forget perks and allowances, teachers don’t even get their due salaries on time. T__he Hindustan Times reports: “Sunita Sharma had been working as a science teacher at a private school in Rohini for the past 14 years. Till February last year, the school paid her Rs. 28,500 by cheque as salary every month. But she had to withdraw Rs. 6,000 and give it back to the school in cash. There was no record of the second transaction. She was removed after she demanded her dues during a medical emergency. The court reinstated her but the harassment continued. She tried slashing her wrist in the school corridor last month.” [caption id=“attachment_2020923” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] Sharma’s harrowing story reveals how schools in our country have become mere business organisations that have no goodwill for its employees. Not just that, there have been many instances where teachers have been shown the door because they stood up for themselves. “A student who wants to become a teacher will not just study for exams. He or she will closely observe the teachers and get inspired. If we create good teachers, we can export teachers,” Modi had said in Varanasi. Earlier this month a group of part time teachers had jumped in front of Sonia Gandhi’s cavalcade in Rae Bareli to highlight their wage-related problems, and squatted on the road following which the Congress president met them and assured that she will look into their grievances. Their wages, they said, had been cut from Rs 7,000 to Rs 5,000. The Hindustan Times quoted Khagesh Jha, a lawyer with Social Jurist that deals with 10-12 cases of teacher exploitation every year as saying, “Earlier, schools would be run by educationists for philanthropy. But now businessmen, property dealers and families run schools.” Meanwhile PM Modi mooted introducing a five-year training course after schooling for those aspiring to pursue a career in teaching and said the country should aim to export top-class teachers across the world. Sharing his vision for an education policy which struck at the roots of social evils like lack of hygiene and female foeticide, Modi said, “India has a tremendous responsibility towards the world in the 21st century, which has been called the century of knowledge.” He may be right in formulating such training courses for future teachers, but what he also needs to do is to ensure that schools, especially private ones, follow the rules listed in the Sixth Pay Commision for paying teachers for their services.