Mumbai: They do the same work, clear the same exams, but earn only Rs 5,000 a month. For at least 15 years, 13 BMC schoolteachers on contract have remained on a fixed honorarium with no benefits, even as junior colleagues have been regularised and now draw monthly salaries of up to Rs 1 lakh.Although contracted for six-hour days, the teachers said they work 8-10 hours daily, including Saturdays for training and additional duties. They are deployed on a par with permanent staff for election and census work and even pandemic duties. Their contracts allow termination without notice or reason. “We have the same qualifications and handle the same workload. Yet, we are treated terribly,” said a teacher. “Even the housekeeping staff earns more.”Teachers also pointed at disparities with NGO-hired staffers, who get around Rs 8,000 and more leave days.The 13 were part of a 240-member cohort recruited between 2007 and 2012; their peers left for better opportunities. Nearly all of them hold graduate and postgraduate degrees, along with diplomas in special education, art and Montessori training; one was even a Mumbai University topper in MA Marathi.Nazmin Shaikh, a contract teacher in Chembur, who was felicitated last week by BMC as one of the city’s best kindergarten teachers, said the disparity is felt even in small classroom needs. “Each year, students are awarded for achievements in either sports, academics or drama with chocolates or trophies or refreshments, but since I am a contract teacher, no funds were sanctioned for my class. I spent Rs 2,000 so that my children were not left out.“BMC education officer Sujata Khaire said the proposal on their regularisation has been approved and sent to the accounts department. Jaded teachers said such assurances have become routine.
