The members of various teachers’ associations affiliated to the Joint Action Committee of Tamil Nadu Teachers Organisations took out a rally in the city on Sunday to press their 15-point charter of demands.
G. Murugesan, general secretary of the Tamizhaga Aasiriyar Koottani, and K. Ilangovan, joint general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Higher Secondary PG Teachers Association, flagged off the rally at Fort Ground.
Salary
K. Pari, Salem district president of the association, and K. Chandrasekar, district secretary of the Koottani, led the rally. Their main demand was provision of salary to the State government teachers on par with the teachers of the Central government schools along with all Central government allowances.
The teachers also urged the State government to do away with the new contributory pension scheme and continue with the old scheme, regularising the services of the teachers appointed on contract basis from 1986 – 88 and those appointed on consolidated pay scales from 2004-06 from the day of their appointment.
At present, teachers face the interference of anti-social elements in their work due to which there is no security. The government should enact a special Act to protect the interest and safety of the teachers, they said.
They also sought doing away with the Teachers Eligibility Test and also the move to close down schools based on the student strength, introduction of Tamil-based education from primary to higher secondary level, fixing of separate scales of pay for special grade and selection grade and also continuation of the advancement of selection grade and special grade schemes.
In Erode , about 1,500 teachers of government schools in the district took out a ‘Call Attention’ rally on Sunday, as part of their State-wide exercise, seeking prompt implementation of their charter of demands.
The teachers went in a procession from the Kalaimaadu Statue Junction to Erode Taluk Office, responding to the protest call by Joint Action Council of Tamil Nadu Teachers’ Organisations.
In Tirupur , the Government schoolteachers, affiliated to various associations, took out a rally and staged a demonstration on Sunday to highlight their demands for better service conditions.
