The recent uproar regarding the absorption of 147 contract teachers and the ensuing mud-slinging and posting of biased and misleading views on various media platforms that followed, have regrettably led to the situation being blown out of proportion and inciting public unrest. As a retired faculty member of Kohima College, I can no longer remain a silent spectator to the vicious smear campaign against our contract teachers. I can personally vouch that they are all well-accomplished and dedicated teachers, some of whom also have the distinction of being the finest writers Nagaland has ever known. A clinical overview of the situation under which the services of these teachers were contracted may perhaps enlighten public misconception of the matter.
It Is a well known fact that the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) pressures all Higher Education Institutions to add new subjects, courses and streams to their curriculum. After every cycle of NAAC assessment and accreditation, institutions are expected to upgrade itself in order to achieve better grades or even to maintain the existing grade. In such a scenario, institutions have to cross endless hurdles and red-tapism to ready themselves for the next assessment and accreditation that occurs at intervals of every five years. Under these circumstances Kohima College had to introduce new subjects and courses, and accordingly Functional English, Sociology and EVS were introduced in quick succession. Commerce stream was further launched but classes could not be conducted for the enrolled students for two months as there were no faculty members to man the stream at that time.
It Is a well known fact that the recruitment process of teachers in Higher Education takes time and follows its own due course (which could be forever). Meanwhile, the semester system of the BA undergraduate program with its continuous evaluation system meant that both the college and enrolled students could ill afford to wait for the appointment of new teachers following all the due recruitment requirements. The general public may not be aware but some of the subjects introduced are technical and specialized courses and teachers competent to teach it were few and far between, at least, at that point in time. Hence, the college had no option but to rope in personnel with the required know-how on a contractual basis. Similarly, every department of the various colleges who have also recruited teachers on contractual basis will also have equally reasonable and sound explanations for their actions— the point being that these recruitments were not done willy- nilly or indiscriminately or as a personal or political favour, but rather, for the sake of the students who had enrolled in the course.
It may be known to some that Article 309 of the Constitution of India confers the power to the recruiting authorities to regulate the process of recruitment for the services under the union and of any state. The executive is vested with the power to recruit persons to government services. Creation and abolition of the post is the prerogative of the executive. Normally the appointments to the government services are made through a prescribed agency. But the exigencies of administration may sometimes call for making contractual or temporary appointments. The object behind this power is to run smooth administration.
It Is not an exaggeration to mention that the contract teachers were the backbone of the college. Over and above equal classroom workload as the regular teachers, the myriad of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities of the college to gain brownie points from NAAC were diligently shouldered efficiently by them. All these, while being paid a ridiculous pittance tantamount to free labour.
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These teachers do not have any legislative protections as are being given to the regular employees nor do not have any service benefits and no provision for any kind of leave, including maternity leave (coincidentally, majority of them are women). All these they bore with good grace for several years, so that there would not be a break in the dispensation of their duties to the students under their care. That, many of the students who passed through their hands are doing exceedingly well, some of whom are even pursuing PhDs is a testament to their commitment. How sad and disappointing it is to see those students now spearheading the protest against the very same teachers who had taught and nurtured them. It is more than likely, that those questioning their appointment did indeed benefit from their teaching in the past.
These contractual teachers have shaped many students’ educational journeys, and their dedication and expertise warrant recognition and reward. Instead, they have been humiliated and demeaned by having their names plastered all over the internet as if they were criminals. I don’t have to belabour the point about how in a tribal society like ours, one’s name is attached to one’s reputation and integrity, to one’s place in the community; that it is not just a label but a reflection of everything that you are. And to have that taken away from them, in that manner, is cruel beyond words. I therefore appeal to all right thinking people to ponder over the fact that it is not the contract teachers that need to bear the brunt of public ire and frustration, nor do they warrant the kind of abuse that is currently being meted out to them.
The necessity for governmental departments to adhere meticulously to recruitment protocols, ensuring transparency and fairness in public appointments is not being contested here. And in an ideal world, this would be the norm. But we live in a complex, less than ideal world where everyday we have to make compromises in order to survive. In this particular case, I believe it was the lack of political will to implement an effective regulatory mechanism for the regularisation of ad-hoc/contractual teachers that was the main problem. A person should not be kept in temporary or contractual service for long. If it is so, one can presume that there is need and warrant for a regular post and accordingly the government should have implemented timely regularisation. Further, it is not clear whether contract or regular teachers are better at teaching students. It is difficult for anyone, including the Court, to make an absolutist case that labour or educational rights can only be fulfilled through one type of policy. What is clear is that a system where contract teachers have a low salary and can be arbitrarily dismissed is not only unfair and exploitative to the teachers, but also decreases their effectiveness and infringes the educational rights of students.
Dr. Kevileno Sakhrie
Retd. Assoc Prof and former HOD
Dept of English
Kohima College. Kohima
