CHENNAI: The members of Tamil Nadu Part-time Teachers' Federation alleged that political parties are failing to fulfil their election promises made during campaigning. Urging for job regularisation, the members stressed that both major Dravidian parties have failed to keep up their promise related to part-time teachers.

The DMK government in January announced that part-time teachers will be made permanent by the Department of School Education after holding an entrance exam. These teachers will be given appropriate weightage in marks according to their tenure.

However, the announcement received mixed reactions from thousands of part-time teachers, calling it an 'eye-wash', while many rejoiced that it had come as a relief to the protesting teachers.

"DMK promised to regularise the part-time teachers during the 2016 and 2011 election campaigns. And, even after winning the election in 2021, the DMK refused to fulfil its promise right away. Similar is the case with AIADMK too," said a member of the federation.

The member went on to add that, as per Government Order 110, in August 2011, the AIADMK government decided to fill 16,549 teacher vacancies and introduced part-time teachers for a monthly salary of meagre Rs 5,000.

"We were hired in 2012 after clearing the necessary exams and took the role of part-time teachers for a meagre Rs 5,000 monthly pay.

After continuous protests and demands, our salary in 2026 has reached Rs 15,000 per month. Even after all this, why should we write an exam for the government to make us permanent?" the member questioned and urged parties to fulfil their promise.