Schools roping in parents of children to offset lack of good teachers

Updated on: Monday, February 04, 2013

Schools in the suburbs seem to have everything - vast open spaces and cheap labour. But, they are plagued by the lack of good teachers. Schools are offsetting this disadvantage by roping in parents of children seeking admission.

A number of schools fall back on parents and involve them in classroom exercises when short of teachers. It's not uncommon for principals to scan the application forms of students seeking admission to check the educational background and work profile of the parents.

"When they find a suitable candidate who is not employed, they ask the parent whether he or she is willing to work in the same school and offer concessions for the children," said educational consultant K R Maalathi.

And why not, ask academics. Punishing hours at work and difficult assignments are not the only reasons for people considering teaching as a full-time profession. Mallika Mani, director of Srikriti - The Teacher Education Centre, said, "Many young mothers choose teaching when they realise that they love instructing and handling their children."

She gets a large number of engineers, MBAs and even doctors opting to pursue professional teaching and development courses. "The idea of schooling as less pay but more relaxed work conditions is not the major reason for such qualified people to get into teaching. International schools pay well and the curriculum is exciting," Mani added. They will feel stifled if they attempt traditional teaching-to-the-test work, she added.

At Lalaji Memorial Omega International School on Pallavaram Road, the person who teaches children about the environment is someone who worked in a corporate. "They bring a whiff of fresh air and excitement to the job. They adopt unconventional approaches to teaching, and have been effective," said senior principal Bhavanishankar Subramaniam.

Chitra Prasad, correspondent, NSN Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Chitlapakkam, where one of their alumni - an engineering graduate with a passion for teaching -- teaches physics, said, "A BEd through correspondence is an eyewash. We have in-house training and induction programmes for these teachers."

Myopic schools reject such passionate teachers because they lack a BEd degree, said Mani. "They only need the skill sets, and that only takes days to get," she said.

Schools roping in parents of children to offset lack of good teachers

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