KOCHI: Teaching is one job that takes a lot from individuals. And the teachers of Multi-Grade Learning Centres (MGLCs) in the state present an example of the sacrifices they make in their endeavour to impart knowledge. However, what people don’t know are the circumstances that they have to go through to help educate underprivileged students living in remote tribal areas of the state.
“Ours is a life full of dangers. Dangers that lurk in every step when we traverse rivers and forest paths that take us to the single teacher schools in the densely forested hills,” said Usha Kumari, who is the all in all of the MGLC at Agasthyamalai Bioreserve. “We have to don the role of the headmasters/mistresses, administrators, teachers and even many times cook plus sweepers of the schools,” she added.
But for our pain and effort, all we get is total neglect from the state government, said Usha Kumari who had launched an indefinite hunger strike in March 2020. “We had been raising our voice for more than 23 years. But no one is listening to us,” she said. In Kerala, 444 teachers are teaching in 270 MGLCs.
“We have been able to bring tribal people to the mainstream of society by spreading awareness among them. All these happened when there were no prefect buildings to house the school. And today, these MGLCs have become a cultural hub of the tribal community,” said Usha Kumari.
According to her, the teachers have been doing their duties with dedication. “However, we always ensured that even though we are facing a lot of problems, that should not affect the future of students entrusted to us,” she said. However, even though many of us have reached the pension age, we are still left pleading for pension and other remunerations that teachers and government officials enjoy, she said.
“Just like every other school, we too launched online classes right from June 1,” said Usha. According to her, earlier, after a long struggle, they were promised a sum of Rs 18,500 as honorarium. “However, sadly, we never get it on time. The teachers who depend on the money to meet their day-to-day family needs have to wait for months to get salary,” said K B Muralidharan, an MGLC teacher in Kasaragod.
“We have no job security,” he added. “Imagine leaving behind family and kids to travel through dense forests and cross rivers in spate to reach the schools to educate tribal students. I feel sad when I think of the injustice that is happening to my children for whom I am unable to secure any financial security,” said Muralidharan who had even thought of applying for a sweeper job to get financial and job security.The government also needs to upgrade the schools selected for the same. Schools which don’t have a sufficient number of students need to be assimilated with the nearby government schools, demand the teachers.