The feelings expressed by T.R. Maragatham, a language teacher (“Travails of a teacher,” Open Page, June 27) reflected mine. She has narrated her experience in an aided school which had unwieldy classes. Private school teachers may not have problems with the size of the classes they handle but the interference of parents, the pressure brought by school managements to produce results and, above all, the unnecessary criticism they face when they punish students — all these make their job equally difficult. The service of dedicated teachers is never recognised by private schools. Nor are they paid well.
Eswari Natarajan,
Chennai
Often, in the midst of the hue and cry over providing quality education and producing cent per cent results, we forget the people who help us achieve them. Although students claim that eventually they are the ones who study, the teachers prepare ten times more for the classes they take.
It is important to address the issue of their work timings, salaries, perks and holidays. When they suffer, it is the children whom they teach who suffer. It is important to ensure that the teacher is duly motivated to do his or her job.
Radhee Krishna,
Thiruvananthapuram
