The first bell rings. Before the day even begins at school, a teacher has already replied to parents on WhatsApp, prepared lessons, and mentally rehearsed how to keep forty restless teenagers from switching off by Period 2.
Teaching is not just instruction, it’s constant emotional management. One anxious child, one angry parent, one syllabus update, and the day tilts.
And somehow, the teacher is expected to stay calm, cheerful, patient -- no matter what.
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It is the emotional load, and not just the job description, that is breaking many teachers today.
TEACHING IS MORE THAN TEACHING
Most people imagine teachers wrapping up by 3 pm. But the reality is different. Many carry work home: checking homework or grading assignments, planning the next classes, learning constantly updated syllabi, or simply decompressing from a day of noise, demands and emotional labour.
What the payslip reflects rarely matches the size of the workday. Private-school salaries often fall in the Rs 15,000 to Rs30,000 per month range for early-career teachers, with mid-career pay usually noted between Rs 35,000 to Rs 50,0
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