GHS hires three teachers from India

By: Abby Fox, Staff Writer
Principal says he may be first in state to recruit from India

August 1, 2003

Greenwood High School Principal George Noflin says he's had to look farther than ever to find good teachers.

Just recently, he hired three teachers from India, and he expects their arrival any day now.

To his knowledge, Noflin is the first principal in Mississippi to seek and hire teachers from India. He found them after Carey Spears, the former personnel director and a former principal of Greenwood High, introduced him to the idea, he said.

After 85 interviews which Noflin and Spears conducted in India earlier in the summer, Noflin chose three.

Garima Malhotra will teach compensatory math and compensatory reading. She has taught special education for three years and has done extensive research in special education.

N. C. Spriram Mallani will teach upper-level math courses such as advanced algebra, probability and pre-calculus. He has taught math for 14 years and has published several articles.

Preetika Randive will teach geometry. She has taught mathematics for 11 years.

All of the teachers have master's degrees in their field.

Spears and Noflin discovered the teachers through USA Employment, an organization based in Houston, Texas that connects teachers from all over the world with jobs in the United States.

USA Employment pre-screens applicants before the interested American employer comes to interview them. It also pays the cost of transportation and housing for the employer. "I didn't deal with the technical aspects of it," Noflin said. "It didn't cost the school one red cent."

Noflin could have interviewed teachers from almost anywhere in the world, but he wanted to choose from a country with a mass of highly educated teachers, he said. "In New Delhi, India, there's about 16 million people there in one city. It's a teacher headquarters."

His overseas hiring success is a great relief, Noflin said, because it's becoming more and more difficult to hire educated and experienced teachers every year.

"This was the toughest recruiting year we've ever had," he said. "Folks are getting out of education. A lot of people retired. Some people left to go back to school. There are a lot of different reasons. Private industry has taken some good quality teachers, and the pay scale hasn't helped.

"It depleted our math department. Areas like math and science are very difficult to fill," he said.

"You have schools in the state vying for the same 10 or 15 graduates. They gobble them up quickly," he said.

Greenwood Public Schools Superintendent Les Daniels agreed that the hiring situation had become more dire than ever. He said that the decision to recruit teachers from abroad was made for one reason only - to answer the teacher shortage.

"We've had math positions open all summer, and there were no takers," he said.

"We go where we need to go to find certified teachers," he said. "They just happened to be from India. They're certified and qualified. We were looking for certified, qualified teachers."

But some of those hiring worries are now in the past, Noflin said, because he can look forward to the aptitude and experience of the Indian teachers.

"I would put my child in their class. They struck me as the type of teacher that would care for that child, that would work with that child. They will work hard to overcome any obstacle to reach the children."

His enthusiasm was secured, Noflin said, when he heard about the extended working hours the teachers are willing to spend with students.

"What really got me was the things they did after school. They coached groups. They stayed on campus. Those are things that show that they go above and beyond the call of duty, and that's natural for them," he said.

Having the opportunity to pick the best from a sea of experienced professionals was reassuring, Noflin said.

"You get somebody that's been in the trenches already, that knows how to teach. These are people with experience who can help us move our test scores up."

Noflin said he hopes the teachers will adjust and feel welcome, since the change in habits and lifestyle they will undergo should be enormous.

"In India, in order to brush your teeth, you need a bottle of water. The temperature is 113 degrees. Your school has no air conditioning. You have 65 students in a class, and you are being paid $250 a month. But you hear about America," he said.

"India has a great culture," he said, but added that America is "a dream land for them. They've given up everything to come to America for a chance at prosperity."

The Indian teachers are only three of many new teachers at Greenwood High. By Noflin's count, 65 teachers work there. Fifteen left last year, and 20 new teachers are coming this year.

The teachers will also be entering a racially mixed workforce, Noflin said, since about 20 of the teachers are white and about 30 are black.

Noflin said he doesn't think that the teachers from India have seen America before, but that they should have little difficulty adapting to an English-speaking environment.

"I am convinced that the communication issue will not be an issue," he said. "I know this is a concern. But when the students come home and tell their parents how well they are doing, that will be the story. Then I'll be able to sit back and say I told you so," he said.

"It's going to take some adjusting. Is everything going to be smooth and perfect? Is everything smooth and perfect for any teacher when they first get here?

"This is thinking outside the box - you have quality people and they want to come here," he said.