POOR SALARY AND SERVICE CONDITIONS OF TEACHERS OF SELF FINANCING B.ED COLLEGES RUN BY UNIVERSITIES

The salary and working conditions of teachers of self-financing B.Ed Centres run by Calicut University are as follows:

• The teachers of University centres are referred as ‘teachers’ are not with titles as “Lecturers”, “Assistant Professors”, “Professors” and “Readers” like their counterparts in the four government B.Ed training colleges. They do not have any scope for promotions to higher posts even for those with decades of experience.
• All faculty members are appointed on contract basis for a period of one year, with contract renewed annually. There is no job security.
• The monthly salary of a teacher of University B. Ed centre is Rs.12,000/- and the Principals get Rs.16000/- (consolidated). Annual increment is a measly Rs.250/- Their counterparts in government enjoy UGC scale of pay with all other benefits.
• The teacher training institutions imparts training on teaching to school teachers. However, the teachers of the B.Ed Centres run the Universities are not given participation in State the training programmes for government school teachers on latest concepts like the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) etc. The services of teachers of B.Ed centres are not utilized for governmental educational programmes. However, their service is utilized for valuation of B.Ed exam papers.
• Ninety percent of teachers in the B.Ed centres are ladies. They do not have even maternity leave benefits. No medical benefits are available like those enjoyed by the permanent teachers in the government colleges. If fallen sick they lose their jobs for absence and do not get support for medicines.
• Even the experience in the University B.Ed centres is not recognized by the Kerala Public Service Commission for appointments. Even Calicut university has not recognized the experience of these teachers in the B.Ed centres
• To add to the insult, the Librarian, section officer and sweeper of the B.Ed centres are permanent employees while the Head of the Department, the Principal and all faculty members are appointed on contract basis. It is an insult to the teaching community as a whole.
• Though ninety percent of the teacher trainers in the Kerala State are working in the private and self financing centres and they are not imparted training in school latest curriculum.

Please note that the daily wage of a driver as approved by the State government is Rs.350/- per day, almost same as that of a faculty member of a teacher in the University B.Ed centre.
The qualifications of teachers working in B.Ed centres are as prescribed by National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and most teachers possess these qualifications. Many are having even Doctorate degree in Education. But they have no career advancement opportunity and they are paid meager remuneration

Ninety percent of B.Ed teachers are women and since it is difficult for women to seek employment outside Kerala they are forced to accept the poor remuneration and work in the training colleges

It is unethical for Universities to run self financing B.Ed colleges exploiting the poor women faculty by paying remuneration and refusing to give them even decent salary increments. While their counterparts in government colleges get DA every now and then to compensate for inflation, these exploited women are given a mere Rs.250 /- per annum. Without depending on others these teachers cannot even sustain their lives. For male teachers who are sole bread winners of their families, life is diffult.

With such highly qualified post graduates and doctorate holders in Education in the State, THERE IS NO JOB OPPORTUNITY IN KERALA IN THE TEACHER TRAINING FIELD. There are only 4 government B.Ed colleges but the appointments are given on ‘By Transfer’ basis to school teachers who are already employed in the government. There are 17 aided institutions where capitation fees amounting to lakhs of rupees are collected for appointment besides other considerations like religion and caste. The rest 90 percent B.Ed colleges are centers for exploitation of the teacher trainers.

A career in teacher for a teacher starts at the B.Ed colleges. What they learn during their B.Ed lasts throughout their teaching career. A remuneration that gives them dignity of profession is essential to set a new culture in the educational institutions.