KV teachers say no to extra hours
M Ramya, TNN Mar 7, 2012, 03.36AM ISTCHENNAI: Already burdened with large classes and six-day weeks, Kendriya Vidyalaya schoolteachers have decided to protest after being asked to work longer hours from April.
The All India Kendriya Vidyalaya Teachers' Association said teachers face a lot of work pressure and things are likely to get worse for them with the implementation of the RTE Act from April.
The KV Sangathan has asked teachers, who work for six hours and 10 minutes a day, to work for seven hours and 30 minutes daily from the start of the next academic year. The teachers said they objected to the directive because they already come to school early and stay back after school hours when required.
"We asked Sangathan officials to give us a five-day week, but they insisted on making us work on Saturdays. This means that we are forced to put in 45 working hours every week. We are ready to work hard, but we cannot continue without rest and at no extra compensation," said G Pethaiyan, president of the teachers' association in Chennai region.
Teachers said their workload increased since CBSE introduced the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation system. "We don't leave at the stroke of the bell every day. We stay back after school when needed, but why make this mandatory?" a KV teacher asked.
The teachers association members said that though the RTE Act specifies that the student-teacher ratio should be 30:1, many times teachers are forced to handle 50 children in a class. "This makes it difficult for the teachers to pay attention to all the students or even give special attention to students who need to improve," Pethaiyan said.
KV Sangathan deputy commissioner, Chennai region, N R Murali denied that the teachers are being overworked. He said the schools were instructed not to admit more than 40 children per class. "Class strength sometimes increases because of transfers from one KV to another. But classes are expected to be within manageable limits. Schools are empowered to recruit additional contractual teachers. I don't know why that is not being done," Murali said.
He said there could be no compromise on the implementation of the RTE Act. "Experts have studied the demands on teachers before placing the Bill was introduced in Parliament," Murali said. "These teachers feel that change is not in their interest. They don't want to be made to stay after work, but schools also have certain requirements and teachers will be required to check the work of students and finalise records after the students leave."
To protest against the additional workload, KV teachers across the country will observe March 16 as 'Black Day' after working hours.
Source : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-07/chennai/31131577_1_kv-teachers-contractual-teachers-student-teacher-ratio / Other News Services
