Part-time teachers, full-time crisis

It’s 9:30 am. Rahul Kumar is sitting outside a classroom at a government school in West Delhi’s Karol Bagh, mugging away the translation of a poem from his Class XII English textbook as if his life depends on it. The 16-year-old has studied all other subjects in Hindi, and it’s difficult for him to understand the likes of John Keats and Pablo Neruda. Pre-boards are underway. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) Class XII exams will begin in about a month. He clearly needs more time to prepare. 

“We did not have a permanent English PGT (post-graduate teacher) in our school. Initially, a guest teacher was appointed for us. After he left, a TGT (trained graduate teacher) started taking classes. Now, a retired teacher has been brought as PGT to complete the syllabus. It’s really difficult to adjust with a new teacher after every few months,” he says.

Retired teacher Asha Barman, who joined the school in November last year under a Delhi government’s plan to fill vacancies in schools, shares Kumar’s anxiety. “Students are not yet ready for the boards. I was told that the previous teacher completed the syllabus. But when I began, there was no response from the students. I came to know later that many chapters and poems were still untouched,” she says. 

She somehow finished the course as the pre-boards had to be conducted. But this has not helped. “They can hardly read a sentence from their textbook. How can a TGT, qualified to teach only up to Class VIII students, be teaching those in Class XII? It’s injustice to both students and subjects,” Barman says. Thankfully, the school has only one section (Arts) to be prepared for the boards. It was upgraded to the senior secondary level two years ago and this is the first Class XII batch.

According to a recent data accessed by DNA from the Delhi government’s Department of Education (DoE), out of the 1,809 sanctioned posts of PGT English, 992 or 54.8 per cent are filled by regular teachers, 328 by guest teachers, who work on daily-wage contracts that must be renewed every year. As many as 489 posts have remained vacant for the last five years. This means several thousands of students struggle with their subjects in government schools across the national capital.

At 1 pm, after the exam, students gather in the school’s sports ground with their Sociology books and start reading chapter 5 titled “Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion”. “We haven’t had a Sociology teacher for a year. Our Political Science guest teacher used to attend to our queries. We are asked to do self-study,” says Ankit Singh (17). 

A teacher there says there are hardly any Sociology teachers in Delhi government school. “Ours is no different,” she says and requests this reporter not to identify her. The DoE data also says that 321, or about 90 per cent, of the 358 sanctioned posts of TGT Sociology are vacant in Delhi government schools. The 37 who are working also include guest teachers. “Guest teachers keep changing every three-four months. Naturally, students are struggling,” says a Sociology teacher elsewhere.

Class XII students face similar crises in Hindi as well. “A teacher from a girls’ school started taking regular classes only in November. Otherwise, teachers changed every few months,” says Ankit, who wants to become a teacher himself. However, the new teacher, who joined under the Delhi government’s “adjustment” scheme, feels dissatisfied.  “I was asked to teach here immediately after I finished the syllabus of my class at my previous school. I didn’t get time to take queries from my students there. Every day, I get calls from them. They want me back there,” she says.

Of the 50 sanctioned teaching posts at the school, only 9 are filled by regulars and 22 by guest teachers. There are 19 vacancies in the session 2017-18. Ajay Veer Singh, general secretary, government teachers’ association, is not hopeful of great results. “This is the first Class XII batch after the school’s upgradation. And, we don’t have even one regular PGT. Students struggle to adjust with guest teachers through the year. With retired and ‘adjustment’ teachers, we have somehow completed the syllabus but we can’t expect miracles during the boards.”

Similar Stories Everywhere

The situation is more or less similar in government schools across the city. Of the sanctioned strength of 66,736 teachers, only 38,926, or 58.3 per cent, are filled at the moment. Out of which, 21,926 are regular and 17,000 are guest teachers. The DoE has been trying to fill some of the vacancies by hiring guest teachers, and replacing them with fresh sets of guest teachers. A process to hire instructors on contracts started in 2009-10, when schools were short of only 1,500 teachers, against a sanctioned strength of about 42,000. Currently, there are 17,000 guest teachers are at work.

In 2011, and then in 2016, 23,514 new posts were created, but even half of them have not been filled with regular teachers. No new advertisement has been issued for direct recruitment of teachers since 2010. The AAP government’s move to regularise 17,000 posts of guest teachers has been opposed by L-G Anil Baijal on issues of “constitutionality”. 

“In this tug of war, students suffer. We have not had History, Physics and English teachers for senior classes in our schools for the last three years,” says the principal of a boys’ school in East Delhi. The government, however, says it’s trying to address the crisis. “We want to regularise guest teachers because some of them have been working with us for 20 years. It will be a sheer injustice with them if we don’t make them regular,” says a senior DoE official.

Education on Hold

Delayed promotions of teachers — L-G Baijal cleared the file in November last year — made matters worse for Class XI and XII, as middle school teachers could not be promoted to teach senior students. About 75 per cent of the posts are filled only through promotions. The rest come through direct recruitments by the Delhi Subordinate Service Selection Board (DSSSB).

For instance, at Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Jor Bagh, which has not had a Physics teacher in the last four year, a parent has helped students to complete the syllabus. “He volunteered to help when we were losing hope. We still did not have any practical class through the year despite the fact that it carries 30 marks,” says Sandeep Arya, a Class XII student at the school.

Similarly, at a government school in Paharganj, which has been without a History teacher for three years, a volunteer has helped complete the syllabus. “Sir used to take three classes a week, and that too, only for three months. I have completed my syllabus with the help of my tutor. I want to score well. I could not have replied upon the school,” says Vikas Singh, among the brightest in a batch of 60. Delhi University professor Rajesh Jha says a student cannot wait for the government to hire or promote teachers. “It’s very difficult for them to deal with different teachers every few months. It slows down their learning process.” 

The DoE official says a process to promote 3,000 TGTs to the post of PGT has begun. “It will help ease the situation to some extent.” Teachers, however, claim that promotions will lead to a crisis of TGTs. “There will be a crisis of middle-level teachers. Because, assistant teachers from corporation schools are not willing to move to the post of graduate teacher. They are earning well without doing much work there,” says Ajay Veer Singh of the government teachers’ association.

Bone of contention

For 35-year-old Shyamlal Verma, being a guest teacher is the biggest “causality”.  “I have been working for nine years. I’m still working like a daily wager. And, it’s really frustrating now. I could not get married because I did not have a regular job,” says Verma, who has a masters degree in Hindi.

Guest teachers are hired on roughly 10-month contracts only when there is a requirement in the absence of permanent ones. Unlike regular teachers, they are not entitled to privileges like medical  and paid leaves and HRA benefits.

“I have been preparing for recruitment, but no exams have happened in two years. We work more without any benefits,” says Veer Sahani, a guest teacher. Principals say that in the absence of any benefits, guest teachers don’t do their job properly. “Why would they do their work with seriousness when they know that they have no accountability?” questions UK Singh, principal, Government Boys’ Senior Secondary School in Bawana.

Meanwhile, back in the Karol Bagh school, Rahul, who aspires to become an IAS officer, is still struggling to understand the meaning of poem “Aunt Jennifer’s Tiger”. “Teacher said Aunt Jennifer’s Tiger was a representative of her hidden inner strength. I, however, could not understand why she was not given an opportunity to explore it,” he says.

Political Logjam

• 2009: Several posts of teachers advertised 
• 2014: AAP government holds exams for these posts 
• 2015: It decides to give weightage and age relaxation to guest teachers. Matter was opposed by L-G; filereturned to govt
• October, 2017: Delhi govt passes a Bill to regularise guest teachers. Move termed ‘unconstitutional’. Matter on hold.