Regardless of being the noblest profession, Teaching is highly underpaid as a career in India. At some places the gross income of teachers in not even enough to cover up their transportation costs.
Talking about teaching as a profession at the very basic level; School, we know that the education system in India is widely divided between government schools and private institutions. Whilst government teachers enjoy humbly decent salaries, private teachers have to literally struggle with their expenses. Thanks to the excellent primary education system in India, government aided schools are mostly not the top-priority of parents when it comes to education, naturally leading to a high demand for private school teachers.
Unaided school teachers teach at a salary as low as mere Rs 2500 across many institutions across India. The real problem with this pathetic scenario lies in the fact that most of the work-force enrolled in the teaching profession comprises of women (nearly close to 80%), who are more derived by monetary reasons than by their passion towards the profession. The fault in the system does not lie on the surface, but is rooted deep below the point at which we gaze. A big number of moderately or even insufficiently educated people apply as masses for a few posts which not even pay handsomely well.
Teaching is a highly underpaid profession in India mainly due to the truth that Indians are quite good in terms of compromising for quality. The immediate concern with this middle ground condition is that it clearly affects the quality of education across our country. Neither do poor salaries encourage the feelings of enthusiasm and passion from those currently involved in the profession nor does it attract the attention of the coming generation to choosing to teach as a profession.
We can surely take a picture the professionals teaching in leading coaching institutes and branded colleges, but to get the full view we must be largely inclined towards the grass-root level of this profession. High-rank teachers and professions are limited to just a handful amidst the vast pool of underpaid teachers trapped in their profession not out of choice but due to financial problems.
The image of teachers in India has been reframed as overworked and underpaid demeaning the status of this dignified profession. Younger teachers are the most underpaid, contrary to the reality that they have the fresh gusto for teaching. Teaching is a valuable job that requires lots of energy and dedication, something which demands equal compensation in return. In addition, the flawed teachers occupying non-deserved positions must be segregated from the ones who rightfully occupy their places.
There is no doubt that our education system needs magnanimous reforms. India's poor primary education and largely backward public education sector forces teachers to be ranked amongst the worst paid employees. There is no surprise why just a handful of top scorers and graduates opt for this profession because growth is limited both in terms of analytical as well as monetary aspects. Individuals should be encouraged to take up the profession of teaching not for the commercial aspect, but for the simple reason of imparting knowledge and education!