I have applauded Kapil Sibal, mananiya mantrimahoday of Education before. But this time I will not. Today's Times of India has an item on page 13 "Pvt (sic) schools free to fix fees, teachers' pay: Sibal" in which he says private schools can fix their own teachers' salaries and fees.
Now this I object, erm, conscientiously, mananiya…. Wifey has been slaving in a school, rather patiently I might add, for more than ten years and she hasn't received her due, though she is the head mistress now, considering all her experience. What she receives is a pittance, plus, she has no any retirement benefits. She knows she is lucky to have a job when thousands of qualified teachers are jobless and wander from job to job drawing salaries of Rs 2,000 or Rs 3,000. Is this what the mantrimahoday wants?
What add salt to the wound is that schools are enriching themselves, lining their khadi pockets with pelf (Most of the educations institutions are owned by politicians in Maharashtra.). A friend is looking for admission for his three-year-old and he did a research of the schools in his area:
- School 1: Donation: Rs 80,000 monthly fee Rs 600 (below par teaching)
- School 2: Donation: Rs 1,00,000 monthly fee Rs 800 (Okay teaching)
- School 3: Donation: Rs 30,000 monthly fee Rs 400 (absolutely bad teaching)
It's unbelievable people shell out such amounts for their children to be taught by grossly underpaid teachers, who have no incentive to perform. Sibal-ji please rethink, please.
i wish teachers were accorded the same respect they were when i was growing up. reminds me of the kabir das verse (guru govind dono khade, kaake laagu paaye? balihari guru aapne jo govind diye bataye) which puts the teacher on a higher pedestal since they show us the way to god. but what to do? education has been taken over by businessmen, the same as healthcare, and so parents are more impressed by the granite floors, marble lined toilets, green landscaped lawns, attendents to see to the kids, 5 star school canteen, posh cars coming to drop off students etc. schools and colleges are no longer institutions of learning, just where you put in the time for a paper degree. private tutoring was reserved for those with learning difficulties, these days it is 'de rigueur'. since many children never understand their own limitations and capabilities, they flounder when confronted with the first challenge. one of the leading causes of teenage suicides on the eve of exams. in this country, an 'average' student in the family is an anathema, everyone has to be simply brilliant! the teacher is caught between a result-hungry parent and the penny-pinching govt, the only one raking it in is the owner of the school and college. sibalji can dream on, no reform in education will succeed unless we change people's attitudes and thinking. how can you put sophisticated equipment in the hands of a primate and announce "india enjoys new age technology in education"
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