Gujarat: Teachers stare at a bleak future

AHMEDABAD: The state government decision of allowing no fees till schools physically reopen has intensified panic and anxiety in the teaching fraternity already weighed down by extra work-hours and salary cuts.
Most educators think that lack of planning and vision on part of the government is translating into suffering of educators and children. Amid all odds created by the Covid pandemic, educators are doing their best to impart education, only to end up with uncertainty.
The fear of losing jobs has increased manifold.
A teacher, Sudha Shah, 45, says, “I am the sole earner in a family of five and my liabilities have not reduced, but salary has gone down. I am worried that if the school says no to my services, then what will I do.”
Another educator, Dipti Singh, from a school in Maninagar, says, “I have not got my salary for the past two months as management says only 35-40 per cent of students have paid fees. I am working in hope that parents will pay the fees and I will get a salary. But with this decision, I feel I will be without a job as I cannot serve without salary for long.”
Niyati Desai, an educator from a school in Thaltej says, “Parents are ready to spend money at coaching classes but have a million reasons not to pay school fees, even when we put our heart and soul in grooming the children.”
A reputed school on SG Road has not paid any salary to educators for the past two months.
The school trustee says, “We pay salary based on fees, and no fees translate into no salary.”
Pointing out that the decision was not well-thought, Preeti Parikh, an educator, says, “The government needs to understand that we educators have families and liabilities too, and this decision will kill many of us.”
(Names changed)