The Constitution of India guarantees equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. Articles 14 and 16, particularly Article 16(1), embody the fundamental principle that employees should be treated fairly and without arbitrary discrimination. Yet, in the school education system, a section of teachers continues to experience a prolonged state of uncertainty and administrative neglect.
The plight of in-charge lecturers is a case in point.
Promoting a teacher or master to the post of lecturer is not merely an administrative formality. It is an acknowledgment of professional competence, experience and academic responsibility. Unfortunately, for many in-charge lecturers, the elevation has remained an incomplete journey-one that confers responsibility without providing the corresponding security, recognition and financial benefits attached to the post.
There is, therefore, a profound administrative as well as human crisis quietly unfolding within the school education system.
Lecturers in responsibility, but not in recognition
In-charge lecturers are generally postgraduate teachers and masters with considerable teaching experience who are entrusted with the responsibilities of lecturer posts to fill critical academic vacancies. Once assigned these responsibilities, they function as senior educators and, in many cases, as institutional leaders.
They shoulder the academic and administrative responsibilities of higher secondary schools, often managing institutions and performing duties far beyond those attached to their substantive posts. They are expected to deliver like lecturers, yet their formal status and corresponding financial entitlements remain uncertain.
This creates a peculiar situation: responsibility is permanent, but recognition remains temporary.
The most pressing grievance of these lecturers is the seemingly endless wait for formal confirmation and regularisation. Many have performed lecturer-level duties with commitment, competence and dedication for years, yet continue to remain in an ambiguous administrative position.
A temporary arrangement that lasts for years
What was perhaps intended as a temporary arrangement has, in many cases, stretched into several years and, for some, more than a decade.
There are lecturers who were promoted or placed in-charge as far back as 2013 and 2019, yet continue to await formal confirmation. For such employees, an arrangement that was meant to be transitional has effectively become a substantial part of their professional careers. The situation becomes particularly painful when an employee spends years performing higher responsibilities only to approach retirement without receiving formal recognition of the position held for so long.
This is not merely an administrative issue. It concerns the dignity, morale and professional identity of teachers.
The question of equal pay
Another major concern is the disparity between the responsibilities entrusted to in-charge lecturers and the remuneration they receive. These teachers perform complex academic and administrative duties associated with lecturer posts, while in many cases continuing to draw the basic salary attached to their substantive posts as masters or teachers. The issue of charge allowance and other financial benefits has also remained a source of considerable resentment.
The principle of “equal pay for equal work” assumes particular significance in such circumstances. When an employee is required to discharge the duties and responsibilities of a higher post for an extended period, the question naturally arises as to whether the corresponding financial and professional recognition should also follow. The disparity is not merely about money. It can gradually become a source of professional frustration and humiliation.
The human cost of administrative ambiguity
The consequences extend beyond the workplace.
Years of uncertainty over designation, pay and career progression can affect an employee’s financial planning, professional confidence and sense of security. Long periods spent in an in-charge capacity may also curtail opportunities for further career progression.
More importantly, an education system cannot afford to overlook the morale of the people who constitute its backbone.
In-charge lecturers often work in understaffed schools, where they are required to absorb additional responsibilities. Their experience and subject knowledge enable them to teach beyond their core specialisations whenever the circumstances demand it. They do so because the functioning of the school and the education of students cannot be allowed to suffer.
But when such commitment is met with prolonged uncertainty and inadequate recognition, it inevitably affects morale.
A matter that deserves urgent attention
The issue therefore needs to be examined not merely as a question of individual grievances but as a matter concerning the health of the education system itself.
Teachers who have been entrusted with lecturer-level responsibilities for years deserve clarity about their status, timely consideration of their cases and fair treatment in accordance with applicable rules and constitutional principles.
The government and the concerned education authorities need to undertake a time-bound review of all cases of in-charge lecturers, particularly those who have remained in such positions for several years. Their claims regarding confirmation, regularisation, pay, charge allowance and career progression should be examined objectively and transparently under the applicable rules.
An education system that expects teachers to nurture the future of society must also ensure that its own teachers are not left in a state of perpetual uncertainty.
The dignity of a teacher should not remain an in-charge arrangement. Recognition, fairness and professional security are not privileges; they are essential to building a motivated and effective education system.