Teaching as a career: What to look for before taking the plunge

Educationists said the key aspect of teaching is that it is not a hobby, but a lifelong passion. It cannot be done as a pastime or a second part-time job.

The total number of teachers in India declined by about 2 percent in FY22 from FY21. There are over 9.5 million teachers now, according to the ministry of education.

Yet, a career in teaching remains popular. However, with the rise of edtech and 21st century skills – and relatively low salaries – making a fruitful career out of teaching remains a challenge.

“Culturally, teachers are regarded in high esteem in India. However, the popular perception is teachers’ status is low and this is linked to the salary drawn by the teacher,” Anuradha Sridhar, head of curriculum development and training at Aditya Birla Education Academy, told Moneycontrol.

She said there is a widespread perception among the youth that teaching is not the most preferred career choice due to the long hours of work, responsibility load, and the salaries associated with the profession.

“Younger women in urban and rural India prefer this as a choice of work only due to convenient work timings, vacations and therefore the ability to manage work/career,” Sridhar said.

The salary question

Typical monthly salaries for a teacher with a bachelor’s degree in education ranges from Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 in private schools. A postgraduate starts at Rs 35,000, Sridhar said.

“If one qualifies for the teacher eligibility test or the Central teacher eligibility test, they stand to have gainful employment in state government or government schools like the Kendriya Vidyalaya,” she said. Teachers get permanent employment at government pay scales and retirement benefits, she said.

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In the past five years, there has been a veritable change in the grading of schools due to growth in technology, experts said.

“These days, teachers are not averse to working in government schools because of the permanent nature [of employment], better facilities and retirement benefits,” said Meera Rangarajan, vice principal of Kanakia International School (IB) in Chembur, Mumbai.

“For example, many BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) schools have introduced computer labs and students get trained in technology phases in daily life. The demand raises the number of teachers who opt to work in government schools, resulting in a cascading effect,” she said.

Though teaching jobs are available, Rangarajan said popular destinations often attract lower pay due to competition. Private schools have renewable contracts. Therefore, there are opportunities to re-negotiate terms, unlike in government schools. Besides, teaching niche subjects such as foreign languages offer more opportunities because there are fewer such teachers.

“More opportunities to earn a higher living standard and move up the career ladder are inevitable with private and international schools. It is observed that this is also a factor leading to rapid turnover,” Rangarajan said.

Not a mere hobby

Educationists said the key aspect of teaching is that it is not a hobby, but a lifelong passion. It cannot be done as a pastime or a second part-time job.

“It is a huge responsibility. If the aspiring candidates are ready to go all in and take the same responsibility, they can take up teaching as a career option,” said Maithili Tambe, CEO of The Academy School in Pune.

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According to her, teaching is an under-appreciated, 24x7 job.
“Clarity of thought and concepts, emotional connection with students, and teamwork are some of the skills that are de rigueur in teaching,” she said.

Tambe suggested that a potential teacher has to determine whether s/he wants to choose and implement the act of teaching or the art of teaching.
“The latter is a rather difficult job but yields better results for their students,” she said.

Passion for learning

The growing presence of technology means teachers have to constantly upgrade their skills.

In January, the highly advanced AI language model ChatGPT “passed” a university-level exam after a former student made it write an essay on social policy and sent it for grading to a professor at a Russell Group university.

Educationists earlier told Moneycontrol that ChatGPT can create personalised lesson plans and assignments, design viva questions, and develop curricula, research articles and other instructional support material.

“Teachers in our K12 schools need to update themselves to the changing ecosystem of school education. Innovation is central to a teacher’s role,” said Madhushree Sekher, dean of the School of Vocational Education of Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai.

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The second challenge for teachers is dealing with adolescents.
“You cannot be prescriptive with them and need to make classes more interesting. That is why teachers need to update themselves on pedagogies of teaching - update, understand and adapt,” she said.

According to Sekher, one needs to love the profession to progress.

Aligned goals

A teacher typically becomes a coordinator or the head of a department. The more ambitious ones set their sights on becoming the vice principal and eventually, the principal. The trajectory for the growth path is 10-15 years of experience in this case, said Aditya Birla’s Sridhar.

From an overall growth perspective, the individual who aims at becoming a teacher must ensure their goals are in line with those of the institution, said Rashee Singh, associate professor at the School of Education and Humanities at Manav Rachna University. One must also ensure that they will be allowed to pursue the path of research and innovation.

“The candidate must also check if the school allows the teacher to be given academic freedom of using innovative pedagogy,” Singh said.

In a nutshell, she said teaching is a profession that involves playing multiple roles including those of being an educator, a friend, a counsellor and a mentor.

“The teacher has to be that role model who simply inspires the students by their presence,” she said.

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