Teaching profession - school masters and Society - No male teachers aged below 50 in Girls schools in Andhra

Teaching is one of the most noble professions ~ till a couple of decades ago, the teacher [school master] commanded great respect ~ not only in school but wherever he went.  The School Head Master was the person with great knowledge, aged – closer to retirement as it took many years to reach the summit of post in the school would be regarded.  Students dreaded entering HM’s room – either it could be in recognition of a notable achievement or in for some serious punishment… both uncommon. School was the place where basic discipline was inculcated and most these came from teachers who set personal examples……. Remember those days, there were very few co-education schools… still there were many of the opposite sex in your neighbourhood studying in the same standard in different school…… mostly girl students were studious, would study a lot, had the habit of reading aloud and in public places, making the life of boy-students miserable.. so many comparisons as to what you study, rather the amount of time that you study and the marks that they would get………

Sadly, most parents never realized that there was no direct relation with the marks to the success in life…….. but for middle class, the way of life was – ‘study well, score well, join higher education – and read – that is the path to success and settling in life’……… if you had 45 students in your class, assuming that you were in the top 5 [happy !] – now sit back and recount whether that top 5 are the most successful in life or have some backbenchers have excelled, either in study itself or in some other walks of life.  It is not strange that some considered ‘wastrel’ in school days, later have become prominent persons in society………

Before you proceed to read this newsitem in todays Indian Express – can you recall all your class teachers [a test if your schooling was at least 20 years ago…] from 6^th to 12^th my class teachers in Hindu High School were : Mr MR Varadharajan, Mr Arunachalam, Mr EV Krishnan, Mr S Anantharamakrishnan, Mr Veeraraghavan; Mr Vipranarayanan and Mr Ramaswamy…….and all of them were respected……….

City life is different ~ have you been to a school in a village – those do not possess even the basic infrastructure and the commitment of teachers there is to be seen to be believed.  After Tsunami, when we were doing some relief  work, I happened to meet the Head Master of Panchayat school in Poompuhar and was totally impressed by his commitment and vigour.  The day we were in, the Dist. Educational Officer was there telling stories to children, keen to make them comeback to school after the disaster [and that was on a Sunday !]

Nirbhaya is no longer in news ~ but not a day passes by without some news of female child abuse and much more can be read in vernacular press and sadly some of these involve school teachers.. where did the society err and why this transformation. This newsitem has more to tell that mere words……………

This news in The New Indian Express, Hyderabad edition with caption ‘No male teachers aged below 50 at girls schools’ of date [3/5/2013] is reproduced below :

If you are a male teacher and aged below 50, you will be shunted out of girls high school. If no female teacher is available as headmaster for girls high schools, only male teachers aged above 50 will be posted as headmasters there.

If the pass percentage in SSC examinations is less than 10 percent in a particular school, then the headmaster concerned will be transferred to a school where there is no road connectivity. The state government on Thursday issued detailed guidelines for the transfer of teachers, more than one month ahead of the next academic year. The counselling schedule will be announced later. The guidelines relate to transfer of headmasters (grade-2 gazetted) and teachers, working in government, ZP and MPP schools. Rationalisation of teachers is needed as some schools have more teachers and some have less. The transfers are intended to regulate staffing pattern, the school education department said in its orders issued on Thursday. All transfers will be made after counselling, through transfer committees constituted for each district/zone.

Those who have completed eight years of service at a particular school as on July 1 this year will be transferred compulsorily. However, if such teachers are about to retire within two years, they will not be shifted. The male headmaster grade-2/teacher, aged below 50 years as on July 1 and working in a girls high school, will be transferred. If no woman HM/teacher available to work in a girls high school, then male HM/teacher above 50 years may be considered for posting to such schools, the order said. The headmaster grade-2 and the subject teacher concerned of the school where the pass percentage in SSC is less than 10 percent will also be transferred to where there is no proper road connectivity, it said.

Certainly, this news does not augur well for the society and the teaching community…..

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

3^rd May 2013.