"He who opens a school door, closes prison’’ –Victor Hugo.

However,what will happen if all doors for life and future of the teachers themselves close? This is the

situation of most of the lecturers in Hyderabad. Under paid,neglected and a much taunted lot, they suffer

in isolation, while peers in other professions make quick bucks and settle in life fast.

Most of them entered the profession at a young age, as idealistic fresh graduates full of enthusiasm. For

these graduates from city’s prestigious colleges and universities, life is a story full of pain, humiliation

and social isolation.They regret now about their decision to pursue teaching profession.

"The service conditions will shock anyone,especially when you come from prestigious institutions,

where you are used to receiving dignity and some form of comforts,”said a lecturer. She added that

the grave realities,which they encounter once they enter the profession, force many of them to leave

Today, hundreds of lecturers work for salaries as low as Rs 8,000. Most of them are female
lecturers,as most colleges prefer to recruit women staff because they show
more loyalty and complain less about their meager salaries.‘’Colleges think that, they are doing some service to us by giving us salary, ‘’ said a woman lecturer. 

"We are being told that we are paid enough for a 10-5 time job. One will be lucky, if he or she gets a monthly salary
of Rs 15,000,’’added her colleague.

What troubles most of them is that most colleges do not follow any of the UGC regulations, like

basic minimum pay,yearly salary hikes and other amenities like PF and HRA. Government,
on its part,has been reducing the number of aided staff vacancies in each college, leading

to more self-financed courses, faculties allege.

Owing to lack of job satisfaction, medical insurance and job security, most of them consider that they are

constantly sitting on the fence. A well known women’s college in the city pays one of the head of departments, just Rs 18,000, after

working for more than a decade there.

Since, colleges have recently turned into money making ventures; quality of education has also suffered

enormously. Most teachers are not ready to devote their energy or expertise to students. Many have

started doing part-time jobs or tuition's to support their families, said a senior faculty.

Every year, there is a sharp fall in admissions for art, language and social sciences courses, said a faculty.

Responding to this, many college managements have closed down language departments.

What shocks the language lovers is the fact that many of the city’s colleges might have even stopped

teaching official language Telugu as well, had the education department, not intervened at the right time.

Most students now opt for Hindi, Sanskrit or French citing professional prospects. It has led to decline of

Telugu language students in colleges.Senior professors say that unless government takes steps in the right direction,
education sector will not recover in the near future.