Regulate pay of Pvt school teachers: Of packed school vans

This is a concern which The Sangai Express has expressed time and again in this column and it is doubtful that this has been taken note of by anyone. Now with some private school teachers coming out and stating that they are paid peanuts for their service, perhaps it is time for the Government of the day to seriously examine how they can help. No one is asking for top of the line pay package as in the corporate world, but the least that may be done is to ensure that private school teachers are paid adequately for the service they render. The State Government has launched the School Fagathansi campaign and while it is understandable that the focus is on Government schools, a look at the pay structure of private school teachers will go a long way in making this slogan all that more inclusive and make the slogan a reality. And remember most of the meritorious students of the State, who have gone to shine in their chosen profession, are products of these private schools. It is also interesting to note that not all can afford to send their children to private schools for the cost involved and it stands that parents and guardians have to go some way to meet the expenses of sending their children and ward to private schools and hereby hangs a tale. As pointed out repeatedly here in this column, it is the parents and guardians who have to bear the brunt of the poor pay that teachers of private schools receive. Not surprising that with the poor pay, many teachers of private schools do not give their best in the classrooms and instead reserve that for the private tuitions and private tuition fees have to be borne by the parents and guardians.
Apart from the poor pay that private school teachers receive, it is also time for the Government to seriously look into the way in which school kids are packed like the proverbial sardines in a can. This again is a subject which has been touched upon in this column on more than one occasion. It is a pity to see so many young tots packed into a school van to be ferried to school and back home and this sight is all that more pitiful during summer. Why not let the Transport Department get in touch with the schools and the van drivers associations and limit the number of students that a school van may carry. For the young tots, the journey to the school and back should be a pleasant experience and not a moment to be squeezed into a tight can. Fortunately so far Manipur has not witnessed any major road disasters involving school vehicles, but the time has come to regulate how many children a school van may carry. With the Government having adopted the new traffic fines, it is only expected of the Government to also come out with some norms for the school vans and other vehicles which are there to ferry the young school children. Take a look at the pay structure of private school teachers and regulate the number of school children that a school van may carry. At least make teaching fun for the teachers and the taught and let the journey to the school and back home be a pleasant experience.