With the closure of educational institutions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers and non-teaching staff of many private schools and colleges are living a hand-to-mouth existence as they have not been paid their salaries for the last four months.

There are an estimated 1,000 small and medium budget schools in district. Apart from this, there would be around 50 big schools and several corporate educational institutions with multiple branches in the city.

The teachers of the budget schools are the worst-affected of the closure of the institutions.

Almost all the medium and small budget schools have stopped paying salaries to their teachers for more than three months.

The small budget schools largely depend on the fee paid by the students to pay salaries to the teachers and non-teaching staff, apart from meeting the administrative and recurring expenses.

Appeal to CM

Meanwhile, school and college teachers and non-teaching staff of many educational institutions, in a WhatsApp post, have appealed to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking financial support on the lines of that extended to other sections of people who have been deprived of their livelihood in view of the lockdown.

“The small budget schools are not in a position to pay salaries to the teachers. Some schools are, however, paying half of the regular salaries to the permanent teachers. If the situation continues, this may also stop. The State government has to come to their rescue,” says Andhra Pradesh Private Schools’ Association (APPSA) chairman K.S.N. Murthy.

CPI State secretary K. Ramakrishna wrote a letter to the Chief Minister nearly two weeks ago, seeking the provision of ₹10,000 as financial assistance to teachers for three months. He also sought permission for conduct of online classes by the private schools.

‘No response’

“There has been no response from the government to the representation. The Central and State governments should reach out to the real sufferers. A study should be conducted, and all the affected persons, irrespective of the sectors, should be paid at least 70 % of their regular salaries till the situation becomes normal,” says CPI State assistant secretary J.V. Satyanarayana Murthy.