The Irony of Teachers’ Day in our Colleges
Every September 5th, India garlands its teachers with flowers and praise. Speeches are delivered, lofty words spoken about the noble role of educators in shaping the nation. Yet, amid the ceremonial tributes, a large community of teachers in Jammu and Kashmir remains unseen—nearly 2,700 contractual lecturers of Jammu and Kashmir colleges working under the Academic Arrangement scheme. For us, Teachers’ Day is not a celebration. It is a cruel reminder of invisibility, neglect, and the painful gap between words and reality.
From Classrooms to Silence
I know this struggle first-hand. For years, I have served as a lecturer on academic arrangement at different degree colleges across the valley. Each new session begins with joy: I enter classrooms with enthusiasm, eager to shape young minds. But when the academic session ends, so does my engagement. Overnight, I am cut off from the system—discarded into silence until the next appointment list appears online.
This cycle—of temporary recognition followed by abrupt invisibility—has become our career. On paper, we are “lecturers.” In reality, we are placeholders.
The Void of “Gap Months”
The worst part is not the uncertainty of contracts, but the months in between—the “gap months.” With no salary and no assurance of reappointment, survival itself becomes a daily struggle. Bills pile up, and even small payments loom like mountains.
On the street, neighbours ask what I am doing these days. Some ask kindly, others with suspicion. I tell them the truth: I am waiting for re-appointment. Each year, the words sound emptier, almost like an apology.
Beyond finances, the emotional toll is immense. Families, though supportive, cannot silence the unspoken doubt: Is this uncertainty a reflection of capability? Over time, these gaps eat away at dignity. Life becomes a lonely paradox: respected as teachers one day, forgotten as unemployed the next.
Students Lose Too
The system not only wounds teachers; it disrupts students’ education as well. For ten months, they grow with one teacher, adjusting to their style of lessons, building trust. Then suddenly, the session ends and another face replaces ours. Continuity, the backbone of meaningful education–collapses.
I have felt the sting, when my students message me: “Sir, why did you leave?” and another question I hear again and again is: “Sir, when will you return to college?”
The truth is, I did not leave. I was pushed out by a system that sees us as fillers. Students too pay the price of this instability.
The System’s Convenience, Teachers’ Cost
On paper, the Academic Arrangement scheme solves staff shortages. It appears economical, flexible, and pragmatic. But it ignores the human cost: the deep erosion of financial security, confidence, and trust of 2700 Academic Arrangements.
We prepare lectures with care, mentor students with sincerity, and enter classrooms with passion. Yet every word we speak is shadowed by the fear that it could all end in a few weeks. There is no insurance against exclusion, no safety net for survival.
Passion sustains us, but passion does not pay rent. It does not shield us from the anxiety of an empty bank account.
A Teachers’ Day Reflection
And so, on this teachers day, the irony stings sharper than ever. Across Jammu and Kashmir, thousands of us who dedicated our lives to classrooms now sit at home, outside the system. Our students may remember us with affection, but the government remembers us only when it needs substitutes.
Teachers’ Day should not be about ceremonial praise. True tribute lies in ensuring continuity, stability, and respect for all teachers—permanent or contractual. Until then, this day will remain for many of us not a celebration, but a yearly reminder of how wide the gap is between speeches and reality.
The Way Forward
Our demands are not extravagant. At the very least:
- Provide year-round remuneration, not just for academic months, to prevent financial and mental collapse during gaps.
- Create a transparent pathway for regularization for long-serving academic arrangement lecturers.
- Recognize continuity not merely as convenience for teachers but as a right of students.
If education is truly the backbone of society, then teachers cannot be treated as disposable scaffolding.
At the heart of it, what we ask for is simple: dignity, security, and recognition that teaching is not seasonal work.
The author taught as an Academic Arrangement Lecturer at the PG Department of History, GDC Bemina, Srinagar, during the 2024–25 session