The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Teachers’ Day, well! do they have their day?

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Wednesday, Sep 03, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Teachers’ Day, well! do they have their day?

Meera Srinivasan

Several schools find it increasingly challenging to retain experienced teachers

CHENNAI: They stand for hours together, strain their voices and teach tirelessly. Institutions are gearing up to celebrate ‘Teachers’ Day’ this Friday, but many schools are finding it increasingly challenging to retain experienced teachers.

Principal of Sivaswami Kalalaya G. Neelakantan says: “Getting good teachers and retaining them in the system is very difficult today.” Speaking of private schools, he said there were schools that paid considerably well and those that paid teachers very poorly.

“It depends on the ethos of the management. Managements which are really serious about the education provided in their schools will certainly pay the teachers well.” More institutions are waking up to the issue, Mr. Neelakantan says, adding: “There are very well-meaning managements that allow leave encashment and also provide for the PF from day one of a teacher’s joining.”

But not all teachers get as lucky. “Even after 10 years in the profession, I was getting paid less than Rs.10,000. I decided to stop working and started taking private tuitions,” says a mathematics teacher who, till recently, taught at a noted private school. “I am doing what I like doing best and my remuneration now corresponds to the effort I put in,” he adds.

While a section of private school teachers allege that the absence of retirement benefits and other perks deter them, management representatives of a section of schools say they are sensitive to teachers’ requirements. “More and more private schools are giving retirement benefits,” says the head of a reputed private school. “About 90 per cent of the fee collected goes into teachers’ salaries and other benefits. If we have to raise the salaries, the fee would have to go up. Schools catering for middle-class students are bound to face resistance from parents. What do we do?” she asks.

Apart from monetary benefits, some schools try and acknowledge teachers’ contributions through various means such as complete freedom in classroom teaching, exposure to new technology in teaching, opportunities for participating in workshops, seminars and exchange programmes, she adds.

For teachers, however, opportunities outside educational institutions seem to be growing, particularly in the context of several IT companies venturing into the e-learning and e-tutoring space. Online educational service providers say they are receiving a number of queries from teachers. Mahalingam Vaidyanathan, COO, Tutors Worldwide says: “Most of the enquiries we receive on full time and part-time opportunities in online tutoring are from current teachers.”

Besides a nearly 100-per cent pay hike in most cases, teachers are also looking for a more stress-free and professional work culture where there is performance appraisal for specific skills, he adds.

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