There is no doubt that the circular orders issued by the Range Inspector and the Assistant Inspector, which we published in the last issue of Svadesabhimani expose the decay that has set in this country’s department of education owing to the corrupt practices of some inefficient officials. The circulars more or less bring to light the hardships faced by those teachers who cling to this low paid job out of their greed for money to make a living rather than having a genuine desire for meeting the lofty goals of education by employing their skills as educators. We all know that the complaints regarding the standards of primary education in villages being pathetically low, thanks to the dull and emaciated teachers, who are hardly able to buy even a wholesome meal with the paltry sum of money they get as salary, have been rectified to a certain extent of late.

The date on which these circulars were issued makes it clear that the teachers were subject to hardships before the new condition, which states that no teacher shall be appointed at a pay lower than Rupees seven, was made operational. It is to stop teachers from going out to receive contributions out of their way for the upkeep of school buildings and to impress upon the people that the responsibility of maintaining these schools solely rests with the government that the government has sanctioned money for thatching the roofs of school buildings and for carrying out the maintenance works. If that be the case, what is the meaning of ordering that the money meant for this purpose must be made available in the office of the range inspector either without expending anything from it or spending as little as possible? Further the order blatantly asks the teachers to arrange for the thatching of school buildings with the help of the parents of free scholars of the school or other people! If the money meant for thatching is entrusted with the Range Inspector, there is no doubt that the teacher will have to go out begging for money for carrying out the work. The teacher, who deserves to be respected by the students, their parents, and the people at large, thus becomes ‘a mere beggar’ in front of them thanks to the reckless order of the Range Inspector. It is abominable indeed. It must be kept in mind that the teacher who goes out begging does so by harming his self-respect and creating an image of him as a pilferer of government money and shattering the valued opinion of the people about the government. So long as the government does not issue a public statement that it is unable to spend money on thatching work, and if needed, the people must do it free of charge, the act of begging on the part of the teachers will likely be suspected by all. This move is not at all befitting to an otherwise unblemished department of education.

 If the teachers are asked to return the balance of the sanctioned money after carrying out thatching and other essential works, there can be no two opinions that such a move will definitely render the teachers susceptible to corrupt practices. It is well known that if the poorly paid employees find it hard to make both ends meet, they will seek and perfect corrupt ways of making some extra money on the way. Against the backdrop of a small amount of the money for thatching work being syphoned off to the inspector, if there are teachers who do not think that they also deserve a bit of the sanctioned money for their efforts in getting the works done, then they must be praiseworthy. There are no teachers who have not fallen into this trap and if you go out in search of the reason for the peevish and spiteful behaviour prevalent among many teachers, you will realise that there are teachers who get unsatisfied because they do not get their share of the pie. The reason why teachers express complaints about fellow teachers to the superior officers is also on account of their mistrust and despicable behaviour among themselves.

Many people aver that a large number of teachers pocket the money sanctioned every month to buy paper, pen, pencil, ink, and thread and needles for craft work. In order to make the money that reaches one’s hand one’s own, just a desire to own it is not enough. There should not be any ground for others to covet it. If the teachers do not have that awareness, it is because their own superior officers themselves adopt the same attitude toward them. Why should one get amazed, if the students who learn under these morally depraved teachers themselves adopt immoral methods? There is no point in blaming the teachers alone for this. They are pushed into the quagmire of corrupt practices by their superior officers themselves. An illustrative example for this can be given: A total amount of Rs.24/- was allotted as stitching charges to Aranmula Hindu School for Girls between 1082 Meenam* and 1083 Kumbham*. After meeting the cost for making blouses, a sum of Rs. 14/- and 14 Chuckrams [*coins of lower denomination] were returned to the office of the Assistant Inspector. Let the government enquire whether there is a statement of account in this regard and make public a clear income and expenditure report so that the people could know the reality. If the superior officers do not allow the teachers to discharge their duties on the basis of their own sense of responsibility and morality, it will be tantamount to opening a road to self-destruction for them!

Notes by the translator:

*Months in the Malayalam calendar.