MALPRACTICES IN PAY-SCALES AND WORKING CONDITIONS OF TEACHERS IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS

Common Cause has been receiving oral complaints from various sources that teachers engaged by private schools on contract basis are being maltreated. For obvious reasons, such teachers cannot raise their voices for fear of being thrown out. On the basis of a research conducted by our organization, certain alarming malpractices have come to limelight. Consequently, we took up the matter with the department of Education, Govt. of NCT of Delhi and requested them to introduce a monitoring system to cover the teachers engaged by private so as to make working conditions more conducive for imparting quality education to children. We did not receive any reply. Resultantly, we have filed a Writ petition in the matter in the High Court of Delhi. The Writ Petition (Civil) bearing no. 6779 of 2006 is reproduced below:

IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

(EXTRAORDINARY CIVIL JURISDCTION)

CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO. 6779 OF 2006

In the matter of :
COMMON CAUSE
(A Registered Society)
5, Institutional Area, Nelson Mandela Road,
Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070
Through its President,

A PETITION UNDER ARTICLE 226 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA IN PUBLIC INTEREST FOR ISSUANCE OF A WRIT IN THE NATURE OF MANDAMUS AND/OR ANY OTHER APPROPRIATE WRIT/ORDER/DIRECTION CALLING UPON THE RESPONDENTS TO PLACE BEFORE THIS HON'BLE COURT WHAT ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN TILL DATE TO ERADICATE THE MALPRACTICES PREVALENT IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN DELHI REGARDING THE EXPLOITATION OF TEACHERS IN REGARD TO THEIR PAY AND ALLOWANCES AND WORKING CONDITIONS IN GENERAL INDICATING WHAT POLICY IT SEEKS TO INCORPORATE TO REDRESS GRIEVANCES OF SUCH TEACHERS AND MAKE THE WORKING CONDITIONS FOR TEACHERS IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS MORE CONDUCIVE FOR IMPARTING QUALITY EDUCATION IN DELHI, AND FURTHER DIRECT THE RESPONDENTS WHO BEING OVERALL CUSTODIANS OF EDUCATION IN DELHI TO CONSIDER INTRODUCING A MONITORING SYSTEM AND BRING IN SOME REGULATION FOR REGULATING THE SERVICE CONDITIONS OF TEACHERS IN PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN DELHI UNDER WHICH THE PRIVATE SCHOOLS MAY BE ASKED TO SUBMIT A PERIODICAL RETURN IN RESPECT OF APPOINTMENT OF TEACHERS INDICATING THEIR NUMBERS, EMOLUMENTS, PERIOD OF EMPLOYMENT AND OTHER RELEVANT DETAILS AND PRESCRIBED PENAL ACTION IN CASE OF ANY VIOLATION OR COMPLAINTS BY THE TEACHERS.

To

The Hon'ble Chief Justice and His Lordship's Companion Justices of the High Court of Delhi at New Delhi.

The Petitioner abovenamed

MOST RESPECTFULLY SHEWETH :

1. That the Petitioner is a Society duly registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and is engaged in taking up various common problems of the people for securing redressal thereof. The Petitioner has an established locus standi in its capacity as a bonafide public interest organization for taking up matters of general public importance. The Petitioner is submitting the present public interest Petition for consideration of this Hon'ble Court.

2. We, the petitioner is a public spirited and Non-governmental Organisation taking up issues of public importance. It has come to the notice of the petitioner through various oral complaints received from different sources that malpractices are rampant in many schools in Delhi especially in private schools. On the basis of such oral complaints a survey was conducted by our organization on the working conditions and pay-scales of teachers in private schools in Delhi. During this survey certain alarming malpractices have come to light. The various facts regarding working conditions of private school teachers are enumerated below:-

3. Private schools in Delhi are commonly referred to as public schools. These schools are managed by private bodies and trusts and they can be either aided or unaided by the government. According to a survey titled Seventh All India School Education Survey, conducted by National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT) in 2002, there are 4391 schools, including government schools, in Delhi. Private schools can broadly be classified into five categories on the basis of their infrastructure standards and the social groups with which they are engaged.

4. Various International Schools belong to the first category. They are managed by big corporate and business groups and provide a highly sophisticated education availing all technological advantages. These schools do not take any assistance from the government, and they are meant for students from the upper and upper middle strata. Certain other schools are run by corporate groups, faith based institutions, trusts and charitable organizations which fall in the second category. This category of schools, some of which are aided, has a high reputation for teaching and curriculum. They educate a mass of students particularly from the upper middle class. The third category of schools constitutes all other privately managed schools some of which receive government aid but have their own autonomy in functioning. Comprising a major portion, they educate students from all strata of society, particularly the middle class and the lower class. The fourth category includes nursery schools, kindergartens, etc. They are unaided and are managed by private bodies. The special schools for disabled students come under the fifth category. They are either funded by government or by private organizations.

5. Through the survey, it has come to the petitioner's notice that the public schools prefer appointing more ` Contract ' based teachers so that they can hire them for lower salaries and fire them any time they wish. Several schools pay their teachers a petty amount, even less than the minimum wage prescribed by the Govt. of NCT of Delhi for unskilled workers i.e. Rs.123 per man-day. It is pertinent to mention that if anybody is paid less than the prescribed wages they can be categorized as bonded labour. In the case of `contract based teachers' these norms are apparently not followed. Besides being denied basic facilities such teachers are also not in a position to unite against their exploitation because it may eventually lead to their dismissal. There is also a general complaint that the `contract based teachers' are paid an amount that is lower than what their signatures are obtained for. According to government order F.12 ( 142 ) / 04MW/Lab./238 dated 01.08.2005) given by Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, Labor Department, the minimum wages for Clerical & Non-Technical Supervisory Staff are recommended as follows: Non-Matriculates- Rs.3358.90 per month, Matriculates but not Graduates-Rs.3613.90 p.m., and Graduates and above Rs.3925.90 per month. And if anybody is paid less than the prescribed wages they can be categorized as bonded labor. 6. It is pertinent to state here the terms and conditions of service of employees of recognized private schools. Section 10 of the Delhi School Education Act, 1973 provides for the salaries of the employees. It states as under:

Salaries of employees:

(1) The scales of pay and allowances, medical facilities, pension, gratuity, provident fund and other prescribed benefits of the employees of a recognized private school shall not be less than those of employees of corresponding status in schools run by the appropriate authority:

Provided that where the scales of pay and allowances, medical facilities, pension, gratuity, provident fund and other prescribed benefits of the employees of any recognized private school are less than those of the employees of the corresponding status in the schools run by the appropriate authority, the appropriate authority shall direct, in writing, the managing committee of such school to bring the same up to the level of those of the employees of the corresponding status in schools run by the appropriate authority:

Provided further that the failure to comply with such direction shall be deemed to be non-compliance with the conditions for continuing recognition of an existing school and the provisions of section 4 shall apply accordingly.

(2) The managing committee of every aided school shall deposit, every month, its share towards pay and allowances, medical facilities, pension, gratuity, provident fund and other prescribed benefits with the Administrator and the Administrator shall disburse, or cause to be disbursed, within the first week of every month, the salaries and allowances to the employees of the aided schools. It is very important to highlight here the fact that the Delhi School Education Act & Rules, 1973, no where provides for the appointment of `contract based' teachers on a mass basis. Rule 101 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973 only speaks of appointment of part-time teachers. It states that it shall be lawful for the managing committee of a primary school or the managing committee of a school having a primary stage to appoint for the primary stage a female teacher on a part-time but regular basis whose pay and allowances shall be one-half of a full-time teacher appointed on a regular basis. It further provides that medical facilities and other benefits (not being pensionary, provident fund or retirement benefits) admissible to a part-time female teacher shall be same as admissible to a full-time teacher.

7. Therefore, there is an urgent need to assess the working condition of the private school teachers in order to bring out their problems and to fight for possible solutions.

8. It has also come to our notice that in many cases unqualified candidates are employed just to minimise the expenditure which has a direct bearing on the quality of education that is being imparted to the students.

9. or the period of holidays, though at times they are entrusted with additional work during these days.

10. Salary to `Contract basis teachers' varies from school to school and person to person. In general, for primary school teachers it is Rs.800 to 2000, for middle school teachers 1200 to 2500 and for Higher Secondary school teachers it is Rs.3000 to 4000.

11. However, it is important to state here that Rule 177 of the Delhi School Education Rules, 1973 clearly speaks of the means through which fees realized by unaided recognized schools are to be utilized. Rule 177 (1) states that income derived by unaided recognised schools by way of fees shall be utilized in the first instance for meeting the pay, allowances and other benefits admissible to the employees of the school. Amongst others sub/rule (2) also states that the savings referred to in sub rule (1) shall be arrived at after providing for the following, namely : (a) pension, gratuity and other benefits admissible to the employees of the school.

12. In certain cases educationally well qualified teachers are paid a lower salary than the less qualified ones due to the latter's closeness to the management. Many private schools do not have even the infrastructure facilities that are prescribed in the Delhi School Education Act 1973. Our survey has also reflected that exploitation is more in the case of female teachers who have certain additional constraints for example in commuting, hours of work, etc. These are the basic problems of the teachers in private schools in Delhi which have come to our notice. The silent majority of these teachers are exploited by the managements of private schools in different ways. It certainly impedes the growth of the profession and also has an adverse bearing on the quality of education. The detailed problems have been enumerated in our survey report which is being annexed to the petition at Annexure P.1.

13. That on the basis of the survey report of our organization on the working conditions of private school teachers, the petitioner had written a letter to the respondent no. 1 to bring to their notice the malpractices in pay scales and working condition of teachers in private schools. However, no reply to this effect has been received from the respondents till date. A true copy of the said letter dated 19.06.2006 is annexed hereto and marked as Annexure P.2

14. Keeping in view the problems as stated above, there is an urgent need to assess the working conditions of teachers in private schools and to usher in a wide range of improvements. The prevailing work culture in schools has made education a ploy for minting money. Such exploitation of teachers, which is considered to be one of the noblest of professions, has reduced the quality of education as the teachers are mentally harassed and they cannot concentrate in their work. Further, the teachers are always on the look out for a change with a better pay perspective and hence the frequent change in teachers makes the students suffer as the student-teacher rapport is a very important factor in the teaching profession.

15. The present Petition is being preferred bonafide, in the interests of justice and in public interest.

16. No other Writ Petition or other proceeding has been initiated by the Petitioner before any other High Court or before this Hon'ble Court in regard to the subject matter of the present Petition.

17. The Petitioner has no alternative equally efficacious remedy in law for the cause of action being agitated herein.

P R A Y E R S

In the circumstances as stated above it is most humbly prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to:

a) issue rule calling upon the Respondents to show cause as to why the Delhi School Education Act, 1973, is not implemented in its true letter and spirit;

b) issue a writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or directions calling upon the Respondents to place before this Hon'ble Court what action has been taken till date to eradicate the malpractices prevalent in private schools in Delhi and what policy it seeks to incorporate to redress the grievances of such teachers for making the working conditions in private schools more conducive.

c) issue further appropriate writ, order, or direction directing the Respondents to introduce a monitoring system and bring in some regulations for regulating the service conditions of teachers in private schools in Delhi under which these schools may be asked to submit a periodical return in respect of appointment of teachers indicating their numbers, emoluments, period of employment and other details etc. violation of which will render them liable for penal action;

d) issue any further or other order or orders as deemed fit by this Hon'ble Court in public interest.

It is prayed accordingly.