Thiruvananthapuram: M. Salam taught at the same multi-grade learning centre (MGLC) or ‘Ekadhyapaka Vidyalayam’ (single-teacher school) at Edavanna in Malappuram for half his 50 years. This month, he joined duty at Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Kizhuparambu, near Areekode, in the full-time menial grade, that is as sweeper.
With the government deciding to phase out MGLCs, less than 10 of the 270 MGLCs that functioned in the State remain open. The rest, in some of the remotest parts, have been closed down and the children in them shifted to nearby schools or tribal hostels. Most of the 344 teachers (called Vidya volunteers) who taught in these schools for honorarium have been redeployed as part-time contingent menial (part-time sweeper)/full-time menial after taking their consent and considering seniority.
The Vidya volunteers acknowledge that taking up work as a sweeper after teaching young children for years is not easy. The emotions writ large on the face of K.R. Ushakumari, a Vidya volunteer at a school deep inside the forests near Amboori in Thiruvananthapuram district who has been redeployed to a Peroorkada school, as she narrated her predicament had most people sit up and take notice.
Lack qualifications
However, many Vidya volunteers are happy that they have been taken into government service. Most of them are not qualified to be primary school teachers. Some have passed SSLC or pre-degree, some others are graduates, and only a few have Trained Teachers’ Certificate.
R. Shemi, a Vidya volunteer for 11 years who taught at one of the four MGLCs that have been closed down on the Aralam farm in Kannur district, says that of the Vidya volunteers in the district, only two had TTC qualification. “For sure, the nature of our new job is different, but at least we will get our salaries on time, instead months’ delay. Also, those volunteers who are qualified can try for better opportunities.”
Mr. Salam feels the same. “It was a blessing to teach children, but that was the sole consolation. It was a struggle at the MGLCs. We would not be paid for chalk or paper; it had to come from our pocket. Besides textbook, uniform, mid-day meal, and stipend, we did not get any funds.”
Another teacher, Anil Kumar, from Kasaragod says they did not get any TA/DA to reach the MGLCs or visit other offices as part of their work. “In the sweeper grade, we fall in the Rs.23,000-50,200 salary bracket, which is more than what we used to get, and are entitled to other benefits such as provident fund, and TA/DA.”
Most of the MGLC lacked basic facilities. Ms. Shemi says her MGLC had some plastic kind of roof that would be unbearable to sit under in the heat. She would teach her charges under a tree, but since it was Aralam farm, insects and the like made life difficult for them.
Mr. Salam trudged along rough tracks to reach the MGLC that did not have a fitness certificate; a road was built five years ago; and electricity reached only two years ago.
Quality education
The Vidya volunteers are happy that the children will now receive formal education as they are entitled to under the Right to Education Act. In MGLCs, a student would not get one-fifth of the five hours that they would do in primary school. Though the Vidya volunteers received teacher training, it was not enough to cater to the needs of a multi-grade classroom, a District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) study had found. The target of instructional days too fell short. “The MGLCs were not adequate. Students deserve better opportunities, especially as schools with good facilities have sprung up near MGLCs,” say the teachers.
‘Only way out’
Their future was always a question mark as the MGLCs could close any time with a drop in student numbers, and they would have nowhere to go, the teachers point out. It was after continuous talks with the government that a solution in the form of full-time menial/part-time contingent menial post was arrived at. Any attempt to appoint them to a higher post would end up in courts as PSC rank-holders were waiting in the wings, and they would be left in the lurch. “There was no other go. The government is not bound to protect us. However, considering the years of service we have put in as Vidya volunteers, it considered the matter favourably,” say the teachers.
