A chemistry teacher who has worked for six years in two government-aided schools has been receiving calls of “sympathy” and “curiosity” in the past few days, none of which, she said, she “deserves”.
The chemistry teacher is among the over 25,700 teaching and non-teaching employees at government-aided schools whose jobs were cancelled by a Calcutta High Court order on Monday.
This newspaper is withholding her name because of the social implications such a public sacking entails, especially after she spoke at length about her traumatic experience since Monday.
“People are either doubting my capabilities or are sympathetic about my condition. I don’t deserve any of it. Be it people in the lab, seniors in the university where I am doing my PhD or my colleagues, I don’t feel like talking about this crisis with anybody,” said the 34-year-old who is pursuing a PhD in nanotechnology.
The “social harassment” has only “compounded my ignominy”, she said.
“The lines between the deserving and the non-deserving have been blurred. My parents are anxious,” she said.
The court had said it was cancelling the jobs of all those who had been recruited based on their performance in the 2016 selection tests, conducted by the school service commission (SSC), because it could not tell between those who got the jobs legally and those who may have got them illegally.
The SSC has said there were proven anomalies in the recruitment of about 5,300 among the 25,700-plus who lost their jobs.
The chemistry teacher’s first posting was in a school in North 24-Parganas. That was in January 2019. In February 2021, she was transferred to a girls’ school in south Calcutta, where she teaches chemistry from Classes VIII to XII.
“What are my students thinking about me?” is a question that has been disturbing her.
“My image as a teacher has been tarnished forever. I am taking online classes. So far, my students haven’t asked me anything directly. But it is a recurring thought in
my mind that they might be discussing it among themselves. They must be reading newspapers or watching news on TV,” she said.
“I have always wanted to teach science to girls because they need to do well in life, get good jobs, and I have encouraged them to pursue science. But do my current
and former students have the same respect for me anymore?”
Her headmistress vouches for her, the lone chemistry teacher at the plus-II
level.
“She is a dedicated teacher who not only takes classes but encourages girls to participate in science meets,” said the headmistress.
“We have not yet received any formal order from the school education department, so she is still taking classes. But the court order will have to be honoured,” the headmistress said.
The teacher spoke of “uncertainty and instability” in her working life.
The irony is she quit a private sector job and chose a government-aided school because she sought “certainty and stability”.
“Even when I was working in the private sector, I did not feel this kind of instability,” she said.
“I cannot go back there because I had prioritised a government job over a private one. But all I can see in front of me is uncertainty,” she said.
Friends and acquaintances have suddenly become curious about her professional life. She is worried about how long this will persist.
She is not worried about the social embarrassment alone. The financial implications matter, too.
“My husband and I have taken a joint bank loan for an apartment that we bought. If my salary stops, that will be impacted,” she said.