COVID-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on various sectors, but the schools were majorly hit due to the lockdown. Many students left, teachers were laid off and academia timetables went off track in the past year. As schools are reopening, there is hope of normalcy once again. But a hiring announcement by a school in Srinagar is anything but normal, it is beyond appalling.
Baba Azam Mission Public School in Srinagar is looking to fill five teaching positions, but what's shocking is the salary offered to the teachers. According to the announcement, there are three general line teacher posts for lower and primary school, two posts for computer teacher and one for accounts assistant.
The poster also talks about the qualification requirement, which is shown below:
- General Line Teacher: BA/ B.Sc / B.Com / B.E.D
- Computer Teacher: BCA/ B.Sc / B.E.D
- Accounts Assistant: BBA/ MBA / B.Com
Shocking payouts
While everything looked normal for a teacher's post in the Srinagar public school, the monthly salary is shocking. As per the flyer, General Line Teacher would be offered Rs 3,500, Computer Teacher would get Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 and Accounts Assistant is eligible for Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000. In case you're wondering, we did not miss an extra zero here.
The flyer even has a contact number for those interested to apply. In order to verify the same, International Business Times reached out to the given number, which belongs to one of the teachers working in the said school, who verified the job postings are indeed accurate and the payout sounded about right. He further referred to the administration for detailed enquiries.
If the salary for a teacher is indeed Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000, one can imagine the kind of education one might receive there. But beyond that, such measly salary is more of an insult as it barely fulfils the basic necessities to cover an entire month's worth of expenses. Even the annual salary if calculated comes less than the monthly 3BHK flat rent in metro cities such as Mumbai, Delhi or Bengaluru.
Benefit of the doubt
International Business Times has reached out for clarification about the payouts mentioned in the flyer as there's no relevant information posted anywhere online. One theory is that the salary mentioned in the flyer could be during probation as is generally the case with some public schools. We'll update the copy as soon as we hear back from the school office.
