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School chain tells staff to take leave without pay
Teachers of a school chain that operates in Mumbai have alleged that they have been asked to take leave without pay by the school authorities in the middle of the
Teachers of a school chain that operates in Mumbai have alleged that they have been asked to take leave without pay by the school authorities in the middle of the Covid-19 crisis.
Teachers working in various branches of Narayana e-Techno school have alleged that the school management told them that they could not be paid for the next few months due to financial constraints.
“We were told that the school was facing financial issues due to the current situation and that our salaries won’t be paid for the next few months until schools reopen,” said a teacher from the school’s Bhayander branch. The school chain runs five branches in the city and 12 branches in the state.
Along with the teachers, members of the non-teaching staff have also been reportedly told to take leave without pay from May. “Nearly 150 people including teaching and non-teaching staff are affected due to this sudden decision of the management. Many of them are single earning members in the family and this has put immense pressure on them and their families,” said another teacher on the condition of anonymity.
Pathan Sayed Khan, head of academics for the Mumbai region at the school said that no teacher is removed from the rolls so far. “We have not removed anyone and will not do so even in future unless there is some issue with respect to their teaching. Some teachers were not willing to teach online as a result of which we asked them to take a break. Especially in Maharashtra, parents are not paying fees due to economic reasons and we are thus having some temporary financial difficulties,” he added.
Teachers, however, said that they were willing to teach online but said that they were never given that option. “We were not even told that this can be an option. If given a choice nobody would want to lose their job,” said the teacher from Bhayander.
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