The Shikshak Nyay Manch, a union of teachers working in schools run by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), has flagged the lack of school maintenance fund payments to the schools run by the corporation, for the past two academic sessions. The union also stated that thousands of students in the schools have not received money to buy their school uniforms.
Union members and teachers stated that due to the repair and maintenance fund not being released, large amounts of work has remained paused. “Every school is supposed to get around 50 thousand to 1.5 lakh rupees, depending on the number of rooms it has. This is already a small amount, but no school has gotten even a single rupee for this session and the last. Due to this, the state of MCD schools is horrible. Gates lie broken, tubelights do not function anymore, and toilets are blocked. The fund is required for schools to function,” said Kuldeep Khatri, president of the union.
In the absence of the funds, teachers in MCD schools state that they have been paying for the repair work themselves. “In the end of June this year, a tree fell into our school, dragging the barbed wire of the fence along with it. Despite our complaints, the MCD did not do anything for two months. After that, the other staff and I pulled up the wire on our own, and paid 10,000 rupees for the repairs,” said one teacher from an MCD school in Karol Bagh, requesting anonymity. He added that since last year, he and another teacher in the school had together paid around two lakh rupees out of their own pocket, to make various repairs in the school.
Teachers stated that the uniform subsidy not being sent to students is an additional problem. Under the subsidy, each student is supposed to receive 1,100 rupees to buy school uniforms. In its absence, students are forced to either wear old, torn uniforms, or not wear uniforms at all. “This dampens the mood of the students as well. Their parents also cannot afford to buy them, as many of them are daily wage labourers, who do not have enough money to purchase the uniforms,” said another teacher, wishing to not be named.
{{/usCountry}}Teachers stated that the uniform subsidy not being sent to students is an additional problem. Under the subsidy, each student is supposed to receive 1,100 rupees to buy school uniforms. In its absence, students are forced to either wear old, torn uniforms, or not wear uniforms at all. “This dampens the mood of the students as well. Their parents also cannot afford to buy them, as many of them are daily wage labourers, who do not have enough money to purchase the uniforms,” said another teacher, wishing to not be named.
{{/usCountry}}Khatri stated that the process of transferring teachers has also not begun yet. “Some teachers travel over 50 kilometers to reach the schools where they teach, and are requesting transfers to schools near their house, but have not gotten them yet. If the transfers do not start by September 20, we will hold a protest on the 26th,” he said.
HT reached out to MCD officials, but they did not respond for a comment.
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