A large number of teachers, owing allegiance to the Tamil Nadu Tamil Medium School Management Association, took out a rally here on Saturday urging the State government to extend salary subsidy to the upgraded Tamil-medium schools.
Rev. Antony Devotta, Bishop, Tiruchi Diocese, inaugurated it. The rally that went through the important roads in Cantonment culminated near the Collectorate where they staged a demonstration.
The protesting teachers raised slogans in support of their demands.
S.A. Sebastian, general secretary of the association, said although the State government had been following the policy of promoting Tamil-medium schools, it had not extended salary grant to teachers working in the upgraded classes of government-aided Tamil-medium schools.
It was treating the upgraded portion of classes under the self-financing category. It had caused huge salary disparity among teachers working in the same school.
Managements of Tamil-medium schools were finding it difficult to attract children as most of them wanted to join English-medium schools. Only parents, who could not afford the fee in English-medium schools, put their wards in Tamil-medium schools. The ignorant parents invariably questioned the management for following different fee structure for those studying in self-financing classes.
Moreover, they were denied the costless assistance of the government such as laptop, bicycles, scholarship, and so on. It was again forcing the children to join only in the aided schools, Mr. Sebastian added.
Hence, he said, the State government should amend the Tamil Nadu Private School Regulation Act 1974 to drop the clause 14A to facilitate the government to extend salary grant to those working in self-financing Tamil-medium schools.
