Teacher's say no fixed duty hours for them as calls galore from parents at all hours

Students attend a class at Dnyaneshwar Vidyalaya, Wadala, on Monday

Mrudula Kamath (name changed) has had a crazy busy schedule since Monday, starting work at 6.30 am and going on for 10 hours, excluding the time spent on travelling. Kamath is a higher secondary teacher in an Andheri school. But her story resonates with most teachers across Mumbai's schools. They are a stressed lot managing online and offline classes apart from ensuring that Covid-19 norms are followed on their school premises. AMID much enthusiasm on school campuses, teachers say their work no longer ends with the last bell as the phone keeps ringing with calls from students and parents. To add to it, teachers have to travel long distances with limited access to local trains.

A staffer checks the temperature of a student at a Dadar school. Pics/Ashish Raje

"The classes for the first batch of students begin at 7 am in school, but teachers and other staff have to reach before 6.30 to be ready on all spots of the premises to ensure students' entry to school is safe with social distancing, hand sanitisation, temperature checks. This has to be done for each batch as they come in and go back. The last batch goes at 5 pm. Thankfully I live nearby so can be home in just half-an-hour but so many of my colleagues spend two more hours or so travelling. Those having no train pass are the most troubled lot," said Kamath, underscoring that the government must review its local train decision at least for teachers who are in the waiting period for the second dose.

In some schools, teachers from junior classes have been told to report to the school to ensure adherence to Covid norms by students. Pic/Satej Shinde

Many young teachers said vaccination for their age group started late and getting slots was difficult initially. Those who were down with Covid took their first dose due to the gap rule. On the first day itself, many teachers were fined for ticketless travelling on locals. "How does the government expect a teacher living in Virar or Dombivli to reach a school in Andheri or Thane daily without boarding a local train. The time and energy spent on this are going to hamper the quality of their work," said Shivnath Darade from Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad, who has repeatedly written to the government to allow teachers to board local trains. But travelling is just one part of the teachers' burden.

No fixed duty hours

"On Monday, I received calls from a few parents in the evening just to ensure that their wards were okay in school. Initially, I thought that the calls were only for day one, but this was soon cleared as I saw myself attending doubts of students and parents on WhatsApp, call or emails, much after the school hours," said a teacher from a Dadar school. To facilitate online classes, schools had shared teachers' numbers with students and parents in the new normal, but it has become a new challenge. "Now even as schools have restarted, that old mode of communication continues by many, especially those who are continuing with the online mode," said a teacher from a Mulund school.

Students of Shri Vibhuti Narayan High School return home on the first day of reopening. Teachers say their work extends beyond classes. Pic/Satej Shinde

Bogged down by extra work

Several schools have opted for dual-teaching where a teacher is attending to students simultaneously. It is either with a camera set-up or having a laptop with a webcam ready on the table while a teacher is taking a class in school. "This reduces the additional time spent on online teaching. But it also becomes confusing at times. For example, in the case of science or mathematics, in a traditional class, we would explain the terms on the board whereas in online class there will be a shared-screen presentation. Setting a camera to show explanations drawn on the board is not really engaging enough for online students," said a teacher from a school in Parel. Teachers also said that their way of knowing whether or not students have understood a certain concept changes with the mode of teaching.

When teachers of higher secondary are caught in so many such issues, those teaching lower classes are shocked to know that they are called to schools even as their teaching is yet online. "We are told that the school requires manpower on campus to manage children coming in batches. We have to manage our online teaching from school now," said a teacher from a school in Mahim, adding that they too have to endure travelling woes with this.