Dissimilar pay and a cold stare at education…..

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high…where knowledge is free…wrote Tagore. Knowledge is indeed free and teachers are considered the cheapest work force and the irony is that the Education sector was always considered recession-proof by the world. Times have proved that it is no longer recession-proof. A simple Gurukul that got transformed into a complex structure, high in maintenance, and low in payouts. From a simple education function from the times of Confucious to the modern profession, the investment that goes into the teacher’s life as he carefully climbs the rungs of qualification as he educates himself to be an educator is probably the most unperceived by society. From beginnings as private teachers to teachers in large groups, the professional demands have grown complex too. Over a period of years, teaching grew to be a noble profession making it a very desirable profession more for the women than the men. Equality played a crucial role and gender priorities are set right in this profession. Women took over teaching as it was far more balanced a work-life with term breaks, vacations, flexible teaching hours to refresh, rejuvenate, read, and prepare for the following class. Teaching also desires a special art: the art of patience, the art of speaking with clarity coupled with empathy, and specialized knowledge of a subject. All of this requires a work pace that is comparably better than other professions. Teaching as a profession ranked higher in public estimation than any other profession. However, the salaries of teachers have always been relatively low for all the unappreciated work and preparation that goes into the profession. At times, the infrastructure costs and maintenance costs have been far higher than the salary payouts. Institutional costs as it is generally termed is far higher as the expenditure that goes into the maintenance of institutions is higher. As society opts for a single child family, the expectations of parents have soared when it comes to the education of their children. Aligned with this is also the fact that with both parents working, there is a transferred responsibility on the school to grow to be a nurturer, care taker, mother, and friend to the child. Greater demands from parents have led to greater expenditure on schools and costs of education have also gone higher. Whenever there is a crisis, it is the teacher and education institutions that come forward to raise their voice against injustice, to campaign for a social cause, to offer their premises as a shelter when required during the crisis, and also as polling booths at times. During the present turbulence in human life caused by the deadly virus, the teacher and the school has stepped forward to pitch in, adapt herself to the need of the hour, alter teaching hours, attend to counselling needs of students and to share the anxiety of parents and students alike. With all this placed on the shelf, a peculiar situation arises now as Education institutions are compared with the industry and the IT sector when it comes to pay cuts. There was a liquor boom as the lockdown was lifted and people flocked to buy alcohol in thousands. Society has money to spend on liquor and on extravagant food orders and fuel to run their cars, money to squander on the other least prioritized needs of the family. And then there is that voice which is raised on the greatest investment we make in our lives: the education of our child. We are worried about paying a fee for the knowledge that is given to our children by a knowledge giving institution. We grow selfish to pay that selfless human being who was never selfish in sharing knowledge with your child?