Dr M L Ngullie
They say, “knowledge is power”. And therefore, knowledge commands respect. And as knowledge comes through education and enlightenment, all agents associated with education are revered automatically. Many societies exhibit respect for education in their conduct. For example, in mainland India, if a student drops a book, he picks it up reverently and puts it upon his forehead as a mark of respect and apology before he puts it back into his school bag. Hindus have even designated a god (Saraswati) as the god of education, wisdom and learning. This makes them virtually worship education. In the same way, when a person is introduced as a teacher, a student bows down and touches the feet of the teacher in reverence. Such a high degree of respect is shown to the objects and subjects responsible for spread of education and enlightenment.
Like many other societies, Nagas too have a great sense of respect for knowledge and education although it is not ordinarily exhibited outwardly. As for example, certain facts like educational item such as text book, pen, pencil, rubber etc., are seldom reported stolen from any book shop in Nagaland. This indirectly shows that people have a respect for even the material items associated with education (though some may like to attribute it to the fear of curse on the academic fortunes if one steals such items). Further, very less crime is reported against the teaching community. These facts prove beyond doubt that Nagas have a sense of respect for teaching profession in particular and all agents responsible for spread of education in, general.
So far, so good. Theoretically Nagas have a high respect for education however, if we look at the practical side of life, it tells a different story altogether; look at the way the Naga society pays the teachers. Undoubtedly, teaching is one of the lowest paid jobs in Nagaland. A Dhela Wala, Rickshaw wala or Pani wala in Dimapur, earns on average, Rs.250/- per day amounting to Rs.6250/- (250x25) per month, but, many teachers would hardly get Rs.100/- for a day’s work which comes up to Rs. 3000/- per month. This amount can be easily earned by a daily wage earner. And yes, these assumptions are not without basis.
A look at a empirical research finding would surely surprise us all. Dr K.Rio, in his PhD thesis on “Economics of Private Schooling Industry, Kohima, Nagaland”, 2000 (downloadable from this web site - http://129.3.20.41/eps/othr/papers/0504/0504006.pdf), has reported his findings which is reproduced as follows;
Average monthly salary of teachers in Kohima in 2000 AD
Matriculate Graduates P.G Theology Computer
Rs.2823.81, Rs. 3657.86, Rs.4241.03 Rs.3633.44 Rs. 3896.48
The above statistics emphatically say that the private school teachers in Kohima, as in the year 2000, were meagrely paid in spite of the fact that the majority of the school owners received huge amount of income. In the same work Dr.Rio reported that private schools in Kohima together earned an income of Rs.88.26 million of which only Rs.51.14 million was spent thereby netting a revenue of Rs.37.11 millions. It emerges that the private school owners received 42% profit on their investment in 2000. In return, however, they paid such a low salary to the teachers as shown in the table above. Well, it was only a case of Kohima, but I am sure, if similar studies were carried out in different towns, the scenario would be same or worse than this.
To put salt to the injury, the Naga society cannot tolerate teachers getting some extra income. This is amply proved by the fact that “private tuition” is banned by the authorities at college level and the students’ unions have put certain unreasonable conditions at the lower level that indirectly banned it. This is an outright denial of a good source of income for the hard working teachers who give extra efforts to help the students in their spare time and earn a minimal income. Such private tuitions must have been controlled with a noble intention to prevent “private practice” at the cost of regular classes. If so, like the workers in different professions, the teachers should also be compensated with “Non-practice allowance”. But will it be forthcoming in the near future even for the teachers in the government sector? The readers should be able to tell…….
It is true that teaching is not a number one job in Nagaland. To travel down the memory lane, when Nagaland got a statehood, suddenly, many job opportunities arose. Vacancies came up in all departments and the prospective candidates had a hell of choices. Many opted for lucrative jobs such as administration, politics, bureaucracy etc., and very less people opted for teaching. In fact, teaching was taken as one of the last options in career choice those days. Consequently, people developed a sense of contempt for teaching profession thinking that only the mediocre students who were unemployable in other departments, and who were ready to accept the least salary, were left for such a profession. Nowadays, however, the scenario is completely changed. For one, unlike those days, government is not the only employer, secondly, competition is so stiff that unless one is modestly qualified in every aspect she/he is not likely to get a teaching job. Conditions such as ‘good academic record throughout’, 55% marks or equivalent in master’s degree’, NET or SLET exams passed for higher education and pre-teaching training etc. for lower level, are called for recruitment of teachers. Thus the fallacy that teaching as a “mediocre oriented profession should be kept a lowly paid profession” does not hold any water anymore. Therefore, as the qualifications are pushed up, benefits must also be raised commensurately.
Further, one must keep in mind that teachers, good or bad, are going to shape the future of our children who are the future of the state. Therefore, they must be kept comfortable so that good talent would be attracted to the profession. Everybody knows that that nobody comes to teaching to get rich. But they need to pay the ever increasing bills as well as invest in knowledge for better performance so they need to be paid modestly so that they can concentrate well on their jobs.
A look at the pay packet of the teachers in different states and industries in India will enable us to see how far others have gone ahead while we are still living in the past. Government institutional teachers are paid relatively higher salaries; however, comparing with the salaries of teachers in other states of India, the teachers in Nagaland receive pea nuts only. A statistic of salary of teachers having 15 years of experience, compiled by naukri.com, based on 2,181 profiles shows thus;
Salary range for all people in Teaching / Education with 15 yrs experience
Lowest Median Highest
5 Lakhs 7.5 Lakhs 52 Lakhs
This information can be downloaded by logging on to the following web site; http://my.naukri.com/PayCheck/check?farea=36&exp=15&ctc=-1&farea_selected=&exp_selected=&ctc_selected=&complist=&citylist=&indlist=&st_src=
This shows that in India, on average, a teacher with 15 years of experience receives a minimum salary of Rs.41,666.67 per month. Some others in the same profession get as high as Rs.4,33,333.33 per month. Mind boggling isn’t it? Comparing these amounts with the salary of teachers in Nagaland especially in the private schools would surely make anyone laugh his lungs out.
It is true that statistics may not be 100% accurate but they do represent the facts with certain estimations which are normally correct. And statistics shown above convinces us beyond doubt that by any standard, teachers in Nagaland are definitely underpaid. This is dangerous because it will directly or indirectly discourage good talent coming into teaching profession and that will seriously undermine the future of education in the state. Therefore, every concerned citizen must ponder upon this and put up suggestion to solve this problem in the interest of the society. The concerned authorities must begin their independent investigation into this problem and seek possible solution thereof. Other bodies like All Nagaland Private School Associations, All Nagaland College/School Teachers Associations, Students’ Unions and all other NGOS must put their heads together to find solution to this problem. The teachers themselves, especially in the private sector, must come out openly and express their needs, desires and wishes for the welfare of teaching community.
Teachers’ Day has just been celebrated with boom and gaiety. And as we celebrate teachers’ day warmly, so also, let us also contemplate upon our attitude, our action, our response to education and not forgetting, the welfare of the teachers. Let us consider our possible contribution to the cause of education by alleviating the status of our teachers, for the betterment of our future generation.
Long live! Dedicated teachers!
