Teachers must earn more than IAS officers, says ex-minister Manish Sisodia
At the 'Nigam Shikshak Samman Samaroh 2024,' held on Teachers' Day, former Deputy Chief Minister and Education Minister Manish Sisodia calls for higher teacher salaries to build a developed India by 2047. The former Delhi Education Minister emphasised the crucial role of teachers in shaping India's future. As the chief guest, he urged that teachers' salaries surpass those of IAS officers and Cabinet Secretaries, citing international examples of developed countries to stress that elevating the status of educators is key to achieving a developed India by 2047.
Chief guest Manish Sisodia, along with other dignitaries, inaugurated the 'Nigam Shikshak Samman Samaroh, 2024' on Teachers' Day at the Civic Centre.
Manish Sisodia told teachers that America, of whom the world talks about for its progress, was aiming towards enrolment of all girls in education in 1890. India started aiming for universal education around 1911. Singapore was a newly independent and poor country just 60 years ago with no natural resources. Its PM decided to make Singapore an educated country and left what’s next after they’ve achieved this level of education.
"They had a policy that could be debated and was radical. They gave incentives to graduate mothers and less educated women. As a result, more women got into education. The children of these educated parents are the new Singapore. Any country that we call progressive and aspire to go to for work or education, has teachers at its core.”
Manish Sisodia also highlighted a trend in developed countries where teachers are paid more than administrators. “Using the Indian context, a teacher’s pay scale in a progressive country is more than an IAS. We often tell teachers that it’s in their hands to shape the future of the country, but we policymakers also have to do our part. In Germany, a teacher’s average annual income is approximately Rs 72 lakhs and the bureaucrats are paid Rs 71 lakhs on average. It’s similar in Switzerland. Those countries are ahead because they invest in teachers. In India, teachers are paid Rs 12–15 lakhs, and we need to do something about it,” he added. “If we want to build 2047’s India, and we expect from teachers that it will begin from the classrooms, then we have to make a resolve that the teachers in our country are paid more than any bureaucrat. We have to make this rule either now or sometime later, but we have to," he added. "I am not suggesting that teachers should be made district magistrates, that is for the IAS, since they come with that qualification. But a teacher who's been teaching for five years should be paid more than an IAS who becomes a DM in five years,” Sisodia said.
Manish Sisodia also highlighted a trend in developed countries where teachers are paid more than administrators. “Using the Indian context, a teacher’s pay scale in a progressive country is more than an IAS. We often tell teachers that it’s in their hands to shape the future of the country, but we policymakers also have to do our part. In Germany, a teacher’s average annual income is approximately Rs 72 lakhs and the bureaucrats are paid Rs 71 lakhs on average. It’s similar in Switzerland. Those countries are ahead because they invest in teachers. In India, teachers are paid Rs 12–15 lakhs, and we need to do something about it,” he added. “If we want to build 2047’s India, and we expect from teachers that it will begin from the classrooms, then we have to make a resolve that the teachers in our country are paid more than any bureaucrat. We have to make this rule either now or sometime later, but we have to," he added. "I am not suggesting that teachers should be made district magistrates, that is for the IAS, since they come with that qualification. But a teacher who's been teaching for five years should be paid more than an IAS who becomes a DM in five years,” Sisodia said.
