Pending demands: 12 primary teachers’ bodies to meet TN school education director

CHENNAI: To know the status of several long-pending demands placed to the School Education Department, as many as 12 primary teachers' associations, including members of the Tamil Nadu Elementary Teachers Organisations-Joint Action Committee (TETO-JAC), are set to meet the director S Kannappan on December 18.

Speaking to DT NEXT, an office-bearer of TETO-JAC said, "We have held a series of protests, the latest one in September. Though we were assured of initiating action by higher officials and by the minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, no meaningful action has been taken so far."

The TETO-JAC member went on to add that the education department early September agreed to fulfil a few long-pending demands. However, the department has not issued a circular formally to act on these announcements.

Meanwhile, the members of the associations met minister Poyyamozhi in September, requesting to fulfil 31 long-pending demands placed by them. Though the department agreed to fulfil a few of them, several key demands are pending.

Some of the demands placed by the TETO-JAC members are --- revoke the new pension scheme and implement the old scheme, the salaries of Secondary Grade Teachers should be rectified, reinstate the surrendering of leaves, stop the Ennum Ezhuthum scheme, and extend the concessions given to government school students to government aided school students as well.

Some of the demands agreed by the department include assessment of Ennum Ezhuthum to be done once a week, School Management Committee meetings can be conducted as per the needs and demands of teachers and parents, instead of once a month, teachers will not be employed as facilitators and revoke cases filed on teachers who had protested in 2016, 2017 and 2019 in the Joint Action Council of Teachers' Organisations-Government Employees' Organisations agitation across Tamil Nadu.