West Bengal: After 10-year wait for school jobs, Lepcha teachers now unpaid for 3 months

Surjimit Lepcha waited 10 years to join a primary school teaching job she was first appointed for in 2015. After finally joining in December, she and his fellow Lepcha teachers in the Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) region of North Bengal are on protest again, at Kalimpong.

Teaching in the mother tongue is a key thrust area of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the education ministry has asked states to implement it. Far from the national capital in the hills of north Bengal, the Lepcha teachers are fighting to save their language, declared endangered by UNESCO in 2020. Since August 26, Lepcha para teachers have been protesting at Kalimpong.

They have two main demands -– timely release of the meagre salary of Rs 5,400 they get per month and introduction of the Lepcha language in classes beyond primary in schools affiliated to the West Bengal board so that the language does not disappear. Salaries have been due for the last three months.

The demands are not new. Voices were raised even in 2015, when the West Bengal government first appointed 46 Lepcha teachers to teach in primary schools. The number of speakers has been declining. The 2011 Census recorded 47,331 Lepcha speakers where the 2001 one had 50,629.

UNESCO’s entry on the language says: “Lepcha is considered to be one of the indigenous languages of the area in which it is spoken. Unlike most other languages of the Himalayas, the Lepcha people have their own indigenous script (the world's largest collection of old Lepcha manuscripts is kept in Leiden, with over 180 Lepcha books). In comparison to other Tibeto-Burman languages, it has been given considerable attention in the literature. Nevertheless, many important aspects of the Lepcha language and culture still remain undescribed.”

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Lepcha in West Bengal schools

The West Bengal government announced the appointment of 46 para Lepcha teachers to teach in primary schools attended by the community’s children in 2014.

The Gorkha Territorial Administration (GTA) headed by Bimal Gurung had challenged the appointment in the Calcutta High Court arguing that the state government didn’t have the jurisdiction to appoint for schools in the GTA area. As a result, the teachers were not allowed to join schools in 2015. They protested for over 100 days at a stretch but the court stayed the matter.

The present ruling party of the hills, Rashtriya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, which controls GTA and is an ally of the Mamata Banerjee government, in November 2024 announced the introduction of the Lepcha language in 40 primary schools across the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts. After a decade of waiting, the joining letters finally arrived.

West Bengal Teachers on the street again

“After waiting for 10 years our joining letter came in. In December, 2024 we joined. The remuneration of Rs 5,400 which was fixed in 2015 was what was being given to us. What can one do with Rs 5,400 these days?” asked Surjimit Lepcha, a member of the Lepcha Language Teachers Association. “The salary is also irregular, we have not been paid for the last three months.”

With the language being taught in just 40 primary schools spread across two districts – Kalimpong and Darjeeling – many of them travel several kilometers to teach the language. Lepcha travels 27.6 km one way to reach the school, starting as early as 6 am. She uses a shared taxi. Others travel even longer distances and have chosen to rent close to the school.

“We finally got to know that we will come under GTA last year. But what is greatly demoralising for us is how the body cannot manage to pay 40 teachers. The Bengal Government on the other hand is conducting such mass recruitment of teachers,” said Lepcha.

In school curriculum

While the disbursal of salaries is the immediate demand, the community also wants the language to be incorporated in the school curriculum.

“In Sikkim the schools, which are affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), offer the language. Why cannot the West Bengal board schools and even the other board schools introduce Lepcha as a language, the way Nepali is taught? The language otherwise is dying,” said the association.

The teachers appointed have not had formal instruction in the language. They were taught Lepcha, its vocabulary and grammar, at home. The language has its own grammar and they say students are interested in learning the language.

The Indian Express reported in 2019 that around 419 students had written the Lepcha language exam in CBSE Class 12 exam.

‘Save our language’

In most GTA schools affiliated to the West Bengal board, Nepali is the first language and English, the second. Most private schools are affiliated to the Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) and in these, English is the first language and Nepali or Hindi, the second. In some schools Bengali is also offered.

“What will happen to our students beyond Class 4? To save our community we have to save our language,” said another teacher.

Sikkim University and government colleges of the state have Lepcha departments and teach the language. But no government college in Darjeeling or Kalimpong has a Lepcha department as the main North Bengal University does not have one.

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Recently, the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) developed language primers and included Lepcha primers in the set. The primers’ list also includes other languages like Bhutia, Limbu, Sherpa, Tamang and Nepali, spoken in the hills of Darjeeling. The special modules cover all classes from 1 to 12 and are accessible online.

‘Vested interest’ in Lepcha teachers’ protest

Kalimpong MLA Ruden Sada Lepcha, who is also the chairman of the Lepcha Board, said the protest was driven by people with “vested interest to divert the attention over the inquiry into siphoning of funds under different projects of the board”.

The tribal teachers association condemned the statement by the MLA and said their demands were genuine and long pending.

In a press conference, the Lepcha also shared that there has been inadequate release of funds from the state government.

“For the different para/contract teachers appointed by GTA we are supposed to get a fund of about Rs.25,92,000 but only about 25%, around Rs.6,30,000, has been provided in instalments. While for the funds of the Lepcha teachers there are technical issues and we need to get reports from the school inspector before we can release their salaries,” said the MLA.

As the body was late in approaching the government, Lepcha added that for the next financial year 2026-27 the state government will be making the required allocation. The West Bengal assembly elections are scheduled for next year.