No Pay For 80% Private School Teachers Since March, Says Survey

Above 50% schools have uncollected dues ranging from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 4.8 crore from the previous financial year.

More than 50 percent schools have uncollected dues ranging from Rs 4 lakh to Rs 4.8 crore from the previous financial year, accounting for 13 to 80 percent of annual revenue, a preliminary exploratory survey conducted by the Central Square Foundation has found.

The report, which surveyed over 90 stakeholders including schools, teachers, parents and other service providers, revealed that nearly 50 percent of teachers surveyed did not receive their salary for March 2020, towards the end of which schools were shut.

What’s even more concerning is that less that 80 percent private school teachers surveyed had not received salaries since March.

According to the report, schools in states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have had to forego annual fees and monthly fee for March and April as their respective state governments had ordered schools to not collect fees during the lockdown period.

This, the report says, has not only forced teachers into agricultural and manual labour work in some states, but has also led over 50 percent schools to consider fee discounts and undertake pay cuts for staff.

Only One-Third of Parents Can Afford Online Learning

Shedding light on the lack of access to technology, the survey reveals that while majority of the schools had attempted delivery of online lessons through low-tech applications, only 33 percent parents could manage to teach their children online.

None of the teachers found present modes of online education effective for students.

While 50 percent teachers said that they had availed of WhatsApp messenger service to deliver teaching material online, many felt that the absence of a classroom environment and lack of personalised learning had put slow learners and the young affected.