Maharashtra: Till schools reopen for all, teacher hiring to be on hold

NAGPUR: Many school teachers who either lost their jobs or did not get the annual contract renewed due to the Covid-19 induced financial crisis, may have to wait till 2022-23 academic session to be back on pay rolls.

School owners tell TOI that unless state government allows reopening of physical classrooms from nursery onwards, it will be “financially difficult” for them to reinstate teachers.
A multi-branch school trustee said, “It’s very important for every school to get its students back on campus. Without this there won’t be any need for sports teachers, music teachers and the contractual staff which was used as a back-up. Right now we are in a condition where even the staff on payroll itself is not being utilized to their full potential. So, new hiring for the current academic session is out of the question for almost all the schools unless full reopening happens.”
A few days ago, CBSE school teachers too were complaining about being called to school even though there was no work. Deepali Dably, founder-president of CBSE Schools Staff Welfare Association (CSSWA), said, “After online classes get over around noon or so, many teachers are made to stay back till 4pm even though there is no work. Those who conduct classes from home have to report to school after that.”
TOI tried to speak with a few school trustees on record, but they did not wish to be identified. “Again it will start the whole fee thing. Because of online classes many parents have not paid fees,” said a trustee.
According to the trustee, the most common practice among defaulters is to pay up to 70% of the dues and move on the next session. “Then they deposit 25% or so of the current year’s fee and if asked for previous dues, they go and complain. And we are well aware that fees won’t come once we spot this pattern in parents,” the trustee said.
Another trustee said that fee recovery will jump if physical classes start. “With that cash inflow, schools can look to hire more staff and increase salaries of teachers who faced cuts,” he said and added, “All in all, hiring of teachers is completely dependent on physical classes resuming for all and the eventual increased fee recovery.”