Amid the anger of parents over the charging of fees during lockdown by private schools in Chhattisgarh, the staff of these schools allege that their work has gone up steeply even as their salaries have been cut and no one seems to be bothered about their rights.
A group of private school teachers told The Pioneer on anonymity that while the government is seeking details of fees from the private schools, the Chhattisgarh High Court had directed the school managements to collect tuition fees and also pay the teachers wages in full.
But in reality, the salaries of the staff in private schools have been cut by 30 to 50 percent, say the teachers. The workload was less during the earlier regular classes. Now it takes more time to prepare slides and study materials. This, the teachers say, has increased the stress level.
The parents of students are also not concerned about non-teaching employees like drivers and conductors of school vehicles and other office staff. As payments to them are directly linked to the fees paid by students, they will be hit hard if fees are not paid.
With Raipur having around 600 private schools and more than 1.5 lakh employees, an unemployment crisis looms large, the teachers fear.
The Principal Secretary of the School Education Department, Dr Alok Shukla, told The Pioneer that details of fees from schools are being sought to be submitted to the High Court.
Regarding wages to teachers, he said the government has not received any complaint.
Arvind Sharma, Secretary of the Federation of Education Societies, said: “The School Education Department and Directorate of Public Instructions already have the complete data of school fees being charged. Even the audited reports. Every year without their signature the fees structure implementation is not possible.”
The online classes are being regularly held but parents are not ready to pay even the tuition fees, he said, adding that the government is initiating a one-sided action.
“The government is holding regular classes for students of government schools in different forms but private schools have been denied the same right,” he said.
There are around 8,000 private schools across the state, out of which around 6 percent are elite schools which charge hefty fees. But others are mainly dependent on the middle, lower middle class and poorer families.