Teaching for decades, U.P. Shiksha Mitras ‘moonlight’ to survive
1.5 lakh Shiksha Mitras demand a hike in Rs 10,000 monthly honorarium
PRAYAGRAJ: Teaching in government-run primary schools of Uttar Pradesh for over two decades, Shiksha Mitras (parateachers) continue to earn a meagre Rs 10,000 per month even as their counterparts in other states make as much as five times more than them.
Numbering over 1.5 lakh, these contractual teachers last saw a raise in their monthly honorarium, paid only 11 months in a year, from Rs 3,500 to Rs 10,000 in August 2017.
“Education instructors who have completed 9 and 18 years of service in Rajasthan are getting Rs 29,600 and Rs 51,000, respectively. Contractual teachers who work as guest teachers in Haryana are drawing Rs 34,580 as honorarium. In Punjab, temporary teachers are getting Rs 11,000 even as the local government is regularising the position of those with over 10 years of experience. Likewise, the Shiksha Mitras in Uttarakhand and West Bengal are given Rs 20,000 and Rs 15,000, respectively,” observed the state secretary of Uttar Pradesh Prathamik Shiksha Mitra Sangh Kaushal Kumar Singh.
The Prayagraj district president of the association, Waseem Ahmad, recalled the police baton charge on Shiksha Mitras in Lucknow in 2017 for demanding equal pay to that of assistant teachers. “Many of our fellow
Shiksha Mitra scheme implemented in U.P. on May 26, 1999
Honorarium increased from Rs 2,250 to Rs 2,400 in October, 2005
Honorarium increased to Rs 3,000 on June 15, 2007 Order for two-year training of Shiksha Mitras issued on July 11, 2011 On July 3, 2012, the state cabinet decided to recruit Shiksha Mitras against the vacant teacher positions Regularisation of 60,442 Shiksha Mitras in the first batch done on June 19,
2014
Shiksha Mitras have to work part-time as labourers, autorickshaw drivers and vegetable sellers to make ends meet. I urge the state government to ensure a respectable honorarium for us,” he added.
In Uttar Pradesh, Shiksha
Regularisation of 77,075 Shiksha Mitras done on April 8, 2015
The Supreme Court stayed the adjustments on July 6, 2015.
Allahabad High Court quashed the adjustment on September 12, 2015 On December 7, 2015, the Supreme Court stays the order of the Allahabad High Court.
On July 25, 2017, the SC upheld the earlier high court order terming the recruitments as ‘illegal’ Honorarium increased from Rs 3,500 to Rs 10,000 per month in August 2017
Mitras were appointed in phases after 1999 on a contractual basis to deal with the shortage of teachers in primary schools.
After toiling for over 20 years, around 1.35 lakh Shiksha Mitras were absorbed as assistant teachers under the Samajwadi decided to revert all Shiksha Mitras to their previous positions in the primary education department but announced a hike in their monthly honorarium to ₹10,000. At present, an estimated 5,000 Shiksha Mitras in the state have cleared the TET and were, thus, reinstated as assistant teachers.
Prior to the 2014 government order, passing the TET to become a regularised teacher was necessitated by the Right To Education (RTE) Act, 2009 which was implemented in the state in July 2011. The 2017 SC order also ensured the restoration of this rule.
“Since then (2017), while many Shiksha Mitras have died, some either changed their professions or retired from teaching. Only around 5,000 managed to get absorbed as assistant teachers after clearing the TET. Over 1.5 lakh teachers continue to work in government primary schools located in some of the remotest areas of the state,” said Ashwani Tripathi, 47, a resident of Saidabad area of Prayagraj who has been working as a Shiksha Mitra since 2006.
Singh, the Shiksha Mitra association official, said their many requests for another hike in the honorarium have gone in vain. “We sent the last representation to the government on May 26, 2023...” he added.
“The decision to raise the honorarium of Shiksha Mitras is a policy decision that will have a huge financial implication and, thus, can only be taken at the government level,” said a senior state primary education department official, who didn’t wish to comment further on the issue.