In Chennai, Teachers, Not Students, Skip Class to be in Two Places at Once

In Chennai, India, the teachers at Pachaiyappa’s College have been not been showing up to class because, during the same time slot, they are scheduled to teach at other schools in the area. The problem stems from a neglected system: the government hasn’t appointed new teachers in ten years.

Pachaiyappa’s College has a staffing shortage: each department should have a full team of 18 teachers. Right now, each department is severely understaffed and only has 12 permanent lecturers; the six openings were never filled, which means the school is relying on guest lecturers. The problem is, more often than not, irregular educators hold permanent faculty positions at one college and guest lecturer statuses at other institutions, which causes scheduling conflicts.

Some teachers come to class early, take attendance, and leave to teach another class scheduled at the same time. Some teachers attribute the double booking to finances. One lecturer admitted, “I earn only Rs. 6,000 at Pachaiyappa’s College while the other institute pays me Rs. 10,000. Even that money is not enough to run a family of five.” This lecturer tried to take on more morning classes at Pachaiyappa’s College but could not, citing that not enough students came to class. He said, “Except for those in the science departments, the other students are irregular. Most of them come to class only by mid-day as they work till late in the evening,”

So then let’s not turn all of the attention onto the teachers: humanities students in particular do not usually show up to morning classes.

These “ghost teachers” are most prominent in the history and Tamil departments.

Creative Commons Love: Suresh Eswaran at Flickr.com

Written by Ling Shu