The Covid19 pandemic has changed our lives, in some cases irrevocably. But one segment where this pandemic has wreaked havoc the most is the education sector. Both students and teachers are facing tremendous difficulties. However, female teachers at times have a more daunting task cut out for them since many are home-makers as well, demanding an efficient balance between both worlds. What has made it more difficult is the after effect of the pandemic where everyone had to go into a lockdown while working from home. 

Work-from-home seems easy for general people from a teacher’s perspective but it is more complicated than we think. A female teacher/home-maker working from home has to pay attention to their family as well as take care of their students at the same time. 

When physical classes aren’t being held it means a teacher can’t directly interact with the student, limiting their understanding and needs of a student. Issues with salary, demands of parents etc have crept up as well with closing down of schools. Due to the pandemic the yearly school syllabus has been hugely modified while examination patterns have undergone a change as well. If the students had problems in understanding these changes, teachers had to face the same situation too. Many teachers meanwhile were laid off leading to an uncertain future for countless others. 

While their professional life gets more demanding, their personal life is being tested too. With successive lockdowns and the whole family being at home increases the difficulties in daily chores. Children and family members don’t always help out in carrying out the tasks. We have seen many female teachers cooking, cleaning while teaching at the same time during the pandemic. Most challenging was balancing their time between teaching from and doing household work. The virtual classes might have been shorter but having their own space free from any disturbance proved to be very difficult. 

Being a woman in India comes with its own challenges and one who is a teacher, that is a bonus responsibility. And yet these resolute humans carry on the responsibility of being a teacher along with managing their household with simple ease. Overall, we must accept how bravely our female teachers have faced the adversities over the past year, standing tall in the face of mounting pressure and coming out victorious. We must applaud these silent warriors who are challenged everyday but say ‘never give up’.