Similar work, different pay? Private school teacher working conditions in India

Abstract

As the private education sector grows across the globe, private providers by extension are becoming significant employers of teachers. In India, more than 3 million teachers are employed in the private sector, contributing to meeting the rapidly expanding educational demands and learning needs of children. Teacher working conditions are crucial to ensure teacher retention and success within the education system. We use the 2011–2012, nationally representative employment data from India, to investigate private teacher working conditions. We conduct a series of regression analysis to account for the differences in demographic attributes of public and private teachers, differences in rural and urban growth of private schools and cross-state variations. We find that, compared to public school teachers, private school teachers experience less favorable monetary and non-monetary working conditions including less access to paid leaves, pension and health care. They also experience lower job security in terms of the existence of a contract and the length of contract period. Private school teachers also have a lower access to teacher unions and thus weaker collective bargaining to negotiate their working conditions. Private teachers are more frequently likely to seek additional work and alternate work. Some noteworthy differences in teacher demographics in rural and urban areas (urban teachers are more likely to be female, somewhat older, and more educated) notwithstanding, these patterns of public-private teacher working conditions are consistent across rural and urban location. We conclude with reflections on potential explanations for these results and suggest steps for future research.