Teachers in Maharashtra take up odd jobs to make ends meet

Some professors left their jobs due to prolonged non-payment of salaries. Representation pic

In a bid to make ends meet, professors from engineering colleges, with years of experience, and who have lost their jobs, are taking up work like software installations, logistics or administrative work in the manufacturing sector, call centre or back-office profiles. The dire situation came to light when a professor created a system, Disha, offering placements to teachers. In just a week, the portal has received over 50 registrations.

Dr Prashant Lokhande had reached out to around 350 companies for jobs for professors. Representation pic

Dr Prashant Lokhande, who teaches at Pillai College of Engineering, decided to use his experience as a placement officer for students, for teachers. Through his system, Disha, professors who have lost jobs can register with their specific skill set to apply for jobs available in the market. The only condition Disha has is to be open to any and all opportunities, keeping survival as the only objective.

"I have approached over 350 companies, of which 50 have responded positively. Most of them have said that there will be jobs but they may not be what the teachers are expecting, considering their education and experience. But companies are willing to offer roles after a thorough selection process, as they feel teachers will be able to grasp faster," said Lokhande.

Professor Vaibhav Narawade, president, MUCTA

Lokhande added, "Engineering professors do have technical knowledge. So one company asked if they know software installation so that they can be trained for installing softwares in laptops and given jobs. Some companies need people to make digital content in the technical sector, while many bigger companies said they have openings in general profiles, starting from managers in inventory or other administrative wings, among others. These profiles may not pay as well as teaching. But something is better than nothing when the question is of survival. Companies who responded will pay at least Rs 15,000 at the beginning." Lokhande added that many BPOs, too, responded with roles in the back-office and data-entry. "Recruiters from call centres said how older people cannot keep up with the crazy shift timings, so they would rather hire them for jobs in regular shifts instead of calling," Lokhande said.

A form that Dr Prashant Lokhande has created as part of his Disha Abhiyan initiative

‘Can focus on teaching later'
"I was willing to take up a receptionist's job at a hotel. Then Disha Abhiyan came as a major relief. Through the system, I have applied for a school teacher's job," said Deepak Wagh, 52, a mathematics professor for engineering, who worked for over a decade at Yadavrao Tasgaonkar Institute of Engineering & Technology in Karjat. Unlike others, Wagh left his job. "What do you do if you're not being paid for months together?" said the Panvel resident, adding that the survival of his family of four was becoming difficult every month. "I have a home loan, I have to pay fees for my children's education. For how long can you seek relatives' help? I needed cash flow to resume. I can focus on teaching later when the situation is better," said Wagh, who fortunately got a job somewhat similar to his previous profile, although he never thought he'd have to teach at a school.

Trupti Patil, too, has a similar situation. She had been working as an ad-hoc professor for around seven years at the computer engineering department of Ramrai Adik Institute of Technology (RAIT). "Right now, it is important for me to have a job, whether it is in teaching or not. I have to pay EMIs and for my children's education. Thankfully, my husband has his job but without my earnings, it is getting difficult to manage everything. I am open to the different roles Disha has to offer. Keeping my fingers crossed to get a job soon," Patil, an Airoli resident, said. Patil has a Masters in Engineering and an MBA in marketing. Having admired her father, a teacher, she likes the profession.

While there are many temporary teachers who lost jobs, the wait for salaries has frustrated permanent teachers. "With the government and regulatory bodies such as Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) being mute spectators, the situation is very grim at engineering colleges. Around 90 per cent of the colleges have enforced pay cuts even though students have been asked to pay full fees," said, Professor Vaibhav Narawade, president of Mumbai University College Teachers' Association (MUCTA), adding that Disha is an effort by the teachers for the teachers to aid survival.

Recruiter speaks
E-Keeda, a company providing digital content for engineering studies, is one of the recruiters on Disha. The profiles offered by E-Keeda are similar to what professors were doing, with the difference being that it's on a digital platform.

Founder and CEO of the company, Mahesh Wagh, said, "We create e-content for engineering studies so having qualified teachers on board is important for us. We are currently evaluating the details provided by Dr Lokhande to understand skill sets of interested applicants. Then we can identify who can record video lectures, or create question banks, or help prepare notes for various subjects, among other roles.

350
No. of companies Dr Prashant Lokhande reached out to regarding jobs