BENGALURU:

in Bengaluru are setting new benchmarks in salary packages offered to best in-class teachers, making the not-so-glamorous profession attractive again.

An international school on Whitefield-Sarjapur Road pays Indian-origin teachers Rs 7.5 lakh-18 lakh a year. The school pays $220,000 (about Rs 1.5 crore) a year to its expat principal. The foreign faculty is paid between $60,000 and $90,000 (Rs 42 lakh and Rs 63 lakh), in addition to free boarding, children’s education and one-time airfare.

A top international school on Sarjapura Road pays both Indian and expat teachers an average monthly salary of Rs 90,000. Another international school in Whitefield that follows IGCSE curriculum offers a maximum of Rs 20 lakh per year package to its teachers.

Not just international schools, their Indian peers are paying teachers well. A prominent chain of public schools pays its primary-class teachers between Rs 62,000 and Rs 1.75 lakh a month. Principals take home between Rs 1.25 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh.

The rising pay packages don’t come without tough interviews for teachers’ posts. Inventure Academy, for instance, received 5,000 applications for 50 teacher posts.

Retaining talent a big challenge

It is difficult to get qualified teachers. Women, who form a large majority of the

teaching

community, now have more opportunities in other fields. It’s tough to find teachers who fit into school’s philosophy. Our interviews have six rounds, apart from a classroom demo where students express views on the teacher,” said Nooraine Fazal, CEO and managing trustee of Inventure Academy.

The interviews for expats are conducted abroad. “We participate in job fairs abroad, access online databases provided by search firms and advertise in domain newspapers circulated among members of international teaching community. We hire Indian-origin teachers based on website postings, advertisements and LinkedIn,” said Shweta Sastri, managing director, Canadian International School.

The biggest challenge is to retain talent. KP Gopalkrishna, chairman, The International School, Bengaluru, said: “Teachers move on after contract ends. Their experience with international school adds value to their profile and help them move on.”

One way of making teaching popular is to pay good money and give autonomy to teachers. Mainstream private schools should start paying the government

. International schools pay teachers a good package because they charge high fees. On the flip side, the pay gap between expats and Indians creates a social divide.