Too little, too late for school teachers

The Sixth Pay Commission may have declares its aim to improve the lot of teachers, but the beneficiaries are not very impressed, reports Anuradha Mukherjee.

The Sixth Pay Commission may have declared its aim to improve the lot of teachers, especially those teaching in primary schools, but the beneficiaries are not very impressed. They say this a case of too little too late and will fail to get the desired results — lure bright youngsters to the teaching vocation. Delhi municipal primary schools employ over 20,000 teachers who will be covered by this Pay Commission.

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“A good starting salary should be offered as nobody wants to become a primary school teacher. There are so many jobs these days — jobs in Information Technology and BPOs. And more over a primary school teacher is constantly under a lot of stress, as he has to take care of very young children. It is not just about rattling a few lessons,” said Ram Chandra Dabas, president of the Akhil Dilli Prathmik Shiksha Sangh.

Delhi Government Teachers Association general secretary Rajkishore Sharma, while stating that teachers were overall satisfied with the Pay Commission recommendations, said there was a need to read the fine print. “The Pay Commission has changed the pay structure, so while the salary has increased in certain areas, it may have actually decreased under some heads. But we are happy as the panel has recommended an increased pay structure for teachers,” said Sharma.

Dabas said that the Sixth pay Commission will make a nominal difference as far as the teaching community is concerned.