Vishav Bharti
Chandigarh, September 4
Another Teacher's Day has come, yet the state teachers seem to be the most neglected section of employees as over 13,000 of them work on just Rs 6,000 to 11,000 monthly salary.
Going by the data compiled by the Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF), in the state, there are as many as 13,200 teachers, who are getting salaries between Rs 6,000 and Rs 11,000. These teachers are placed mainly in the volunteer category, but work full-time. Those working under Alternative Innovative Education (AIE) and Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS), and as special trainer get Rs 6,000, simple graduate education provider get Rs 8,200, while those who have done BA-BEd get Rs 9,200 and MA-BEd get Rs 11,000 per month salary. All these teachers are on contract and a majority of them are working for a pittance for the past 10 to 15 years.
Calling it complete injustice, the teachers' unions have flayed the government and said there's no fun in celebrating Teacher's Day without improving the working conditions.
"These 13,200 teachers have seen ten years of the SAD-BJP rule and five of the Congress, but each party has betrayed them and their fate has remained the same. Now most of these teachers have attained the age of 40 to 45 years. The six-month rule of the AAP has also failed to bring any relief for them," said Digvijay Pal Sharma, president, DTF, Punjab.
The situation with the primary education, which lays the foundation of school education, seems worse as around 14,000 posts of teacher are lying vacant. Most of the primary teachers hired on contract are working full-time on the vacant posts. Besides this, the previous government had announced to hire 8,300 pre-primary teachers, but not even a single post has been filled so far. Moreover, around 550 posts of school head are also lying vacant in the state.
Similarly, the condition of teachers belonging to several other categories is not much better. There are 7,000 computer teachers who are not being merged in the Education Department, but have been employed by floating a society. They are being paid low salaries as compared to other government teachers and are not even eligible for any post-retirement benefits.
Instil discipline among pupils: Bains
Extending greetings on the eve of Teacher's Day, Education Minister Harjot Bains on Sunday urged them to instil discipline, honesty and dedication among students. He said the day was celebrated to mark the birth anniv of ex-President Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who revamped the education system. He appreciated the teachers for shaping minds of students for future endeavours.
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/8iEwvHj
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