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Bengaluru: A circular sent by the deputy directors of public instruction says that the schools—government, private and aided—must pay the prescribed minimum wages to the teachers.
Based on the conditions laid down by the Karnataka Educational Institutions Rules, 2005, a circular has been drafted, said P C Jaffer, Commissioner, Department of Public Instruction.
The circular mentions that the managements of these schools will face action if the rules are not adhered to, but there are no specifications on the type of penalty that would be raised.
As per the circular, the minimum wages for primary school teachers and high school teachers is Rs 25,800 and Rs 33,450 respectively. The circular also mentions that the minimum wages should be paid for the assistants and group D Staff recruited at the schools.
Shashi Kumar, General Secretary, KAMS (Associated Managements of Private Schools In Karnataka), said, “The Block Education Officers (BEOs) will use this to harass schools and small schools will take a beating because of this.”
He also said that for the schools to fulfill this criteria would mean a hike in fees by 200-300 percent per year. “If this has to be implemented in a place like Bengaluru, the minimum fee that a student has to charged will be Rs 83,000 a year. This is as per an estimate done three years ago.”
The average salary paid for teachers in Bangalore was between Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000 for a primary school teacher and Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000 for a high school teacher. “The payment is an agreement between the two parties. The government has no right to interfere in this,” he said.
