CHENNAI: Demanding regularisation, thousands of part-time teachers have been protesting at the DPI campus from January 8. The protesting teachers allege that the DMK government and Chief Minister MK Stalin assured to fulfil their demand several times; however, so far, no action has been taken. 

Meanwhile, it is to be noted that the secondary grade teachers’ protest demanding ‘equal pay for equal work’ entered its 19th day on Tuesday.

As far as part-time teachers are concerned, there are close to 12,000 of them working at state-run schools, including 6,000 women teachers. These teachers were appointed in 2012 by the AIADMK across Tamil Nadu to address the teachers' shortage in government schools. 

Now, with the elections approaching, the part-time teachers have urged to fulfil the promises made by DMK during its election campaign in 2016 and 2021.

The members of Tamil Nadu Part-time Teachers’ Federation had been protesting for several years, demanding that both the DMK and AIADMK, during their tenure in office, fulfil the demands. However, so far, both parties have failed. 

Despite serving in schools for over 14 years, part-time teachers remain on consolidated pay, drawing a monthly salary of Rs 12,500, a marginal increase from the original Rs 5,000. Teachers say this amount remains insufficient to sustain a dignified livelihood, especially when their roles and workloads mirror those of permanent staff.

“We started with a Rs 5,000 salary per month in 2012, which gradually increased over the years, and we saw the last increment to Rs 12,500 a couple of years ago. Though both parties are assured to fulfil our demands, we have not received any resolution. We have also been deprived of Pongal bonus, which others can avail,” said S Senthil Kumar, state coordinator of the federation. 

Meanwhile, the Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers’ Association (SSTA) had been protesting to be compensated Rs 3,170 for those appointed after June 2009.