A gloomy and doomy Teacher’s Day this year too

Hit by pandemic for two back-to-back years, this tradition has become a thing of the past

Their ranks thinned by the pandemic sackings, Teacher’s Day has just become one more grim marker in the calendar for teachers in the city. “The chant of Gurur Brahma, Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Maheshwara is just a slogan. I was sacked at a day’s notice after being deprived of salary for four months,” says a Math teacher from the city, who has now moved to Nalgonda for farming. Schools with a tradition of celebrating Teacher’s Day, organised by students dressed in civvies with colourful writing on the black board, are just a memory for teachers. “I used to get a salary of ₹18,000 when I was working with Rachana Grammar School in Kapra. After schools reopened, I got a call from another school and was offered ₹5,000 as salary,” says Surindar Karne, who has done MCA and B.Ed and used to teach Math. “Currently, I am working as a salesman with a real estate company. If there are sales, I get money, otherwise it is tough,” he says.