The unpaid teachers of India: A crisis in education

A fair wage is a fundamental right of every worker. Yet, in Kerala, 16,000 teachers—who dedicate their entire day to educating students—do not receive a single rupee as salary. This is not a temporary issue; some have been working without pay for over a decade.

The gravity of this crisis came to the forefront following the tragic suicide of a school teacher who had endured years of unpaid labor.

Aleena Benny, a teacher at a school in Kerala, was found hanging in her house in Kozhikode on Feb 19. According to her father, she was distressed over not being paid her salary for over five years. He alleged that the manager at the school made Aleena sign a document, effectively relinquishing her salary and benefits for a period of five years.

According to the General Education Department, there are 16,000 unapproved teaching positions across the state, spanning primary to higher secondary levels. Teacher organizations highlight that, in higher secondary schools alone, approximately 2,200 positions remain unrecognized.

One such teacher, struggling without an official appointment, shares the painful reality with Mathrubhumi, a Malayalam news outlet: "When I leave for school in the morning, I cannot even ask my father or husband for bus fare. It is beyond humiliating. As teachers, we cannot go around seeking donations. If someone comes asking for contributions, we have to hide. In the eyes of the community, we are still teachers."

There are schools where up to nine or ten teachers work under these conditions. Many survive by taking tuition classes on weekends, working as drivers, delivering goods to village shops, or even doing manual labor. Those with families face extreme hardship, according to the news outlet.

At eight schools granted Plus Two batches during the Oommen Chandy government, teachers have been waiting for official appointment approval for over a decade. Not only have they remained unrecognized, but their positions have not even been formally created. In these schools alone, 56 teachers continue to work without pay.

"Some teachers have postponed their weddings, hoping to get official approval first. Worse still, we do not even have money to buy a sweet for our students when they graduate. How do we tell them that we have no salary?" laments a disheartened teacher.

This crisis is not limited to Kerala. In Odisha’s Balangir district, a government school teacher, Prabhudatta Sahoo, reportedly hasn’t received his salary for three months. Facing financial distress, he applied for a one-day leave—to work as a laborer and earn wages. His request was granted by the headmaster on Feb 20.

With distress deepening in the community and a recent tragedy serving as a grim reminder, the call for urgent government intervention has never been louder. Teachers, the backbone of education, deserve more than just respect—they deserve fair wages.