State principals want pay parity with those of Central schools

Nagpur: Principals of private-aided state board schools are demanding pay parity with their counterparts in Central schools and plan to start a state-level agitation for the same. A special meeting of School Headmasters Charitable Association (SHCA) was held at Mecosabagh Methodist High School to discuss the issue and chalk out future plans.
Zafar Khan, founder-president of SHCA, said, “In very simple words, the salary of a state high school principal is equal to Central’s primary school principal. Why should we be getting less pay than our Central counterparts while the work we do is similar.”
Khan said the disparity is striking and they are exploring all options to contest this. “In Sixth Pay Commission, the pay band of principals in Maharashtra was Rs9,300-Rs34,800 with grade pay of Rs4,900. And for Central government, the pay band was Rs15,600-Rs39100 with grade pay of Rs6,600. This difference has to be done away with immediately,” said Khan.
Another issue which principals are facing is the government’s criteria for sanctioning the post. Khan said, “For 100 students in a school, they give one principal, but if the number falls below 90 that post is gone. The seniormost teacher has to double up as the principal, which is ridiculous. A principal’s job is more administrative rather than academic and hence we are trying to discuss with the education department how to resolve this issue.”
The SHCA is also organizing a workshop for principals on various administrative issues on May 2. Dilip Bose, founder general secretary, said, “There are many issues that need to be addressed regarding schools and principals. Our workshops are aimed and empowering principals and creating a platform for coordination with the education department so that all issues are sorted out,” said Bose.
The SHCA has also planned to take up the ‘no poll duty’ issue before assembly polls in the state. Khan said, “This time they had put principals on poll duty, but after we met the collector, almost 70% of those orders were cancelled. We will again be having a detailed discussion with the authorities to ensure that none of the principals are put on that duty.”
Making sense of 2019 #ElectionswithtimesView Full Coverage