1 lakh teachers and non-teaching staff lost jobs after lockdown, says survey

Gurgaon: As the state government fails to take a decisive step to resolve the issue of fee payment between school authorities and parents, teaching and non-teaching staff are receiving the short-end of the stick. Over the past three months, since the school premises were shut, over one lakh teaching and non-teaching staff of private schools in the state have lost their jobs, according to a survey done by Federation of Private Schools Welfare Association. This is despite several government advisories since March for schools to not fire their staff.
As per the estimate, around 60,000 teachers across the state have been rendered jobless in the past three months. “Initially, we had to take deep salary cuts. Then, we were made to demand fees from parents. In May, I was asked to resign as the school claimed it didn't have money to sustain us,” said a private school teacher, adding that her husband also had to take a 40% salary cut. The worst hit are the budget-schools that cater to the lower and middle income groups. “In May, I had to shut down two of our branches. We didn’t have money to even pay rent for the school buildings,” said Nisha Sharma, who used to run a pre-primary school.
Similarly, the survey says nearly 15,000 private school buses and 25,000 vans would ferry students to and from schools before the lockdown. None of these services have resumed even as the country has entered the Unlock 2.0 phase. As a result, nearly 40,000 of involved in these services are struggling to find a livelihood.
“I was a conductor in a school bus of a private school. The bus driver and I got the salaries for March, but after that, we were told that the school is unable to pay us. Three months have passed and our services are still not required,” said a school bus conductor who is from Madhya Pradesh.
But the government doesn’t recognise this as a crisis, said Kulbhushan Sharma, president of the Federation of Private Schools Welfare Association. “We demand a severance package of at least Rs 3,000 for all those who have been laid off. Also, if the government conducts a more thorough survey may be the number will be higher,” he added.