Members of the Post Graduate Teachers’ association went on protest on Saturday to demand the same scale of pay as their counterparts who are graduates.
V. Vijayakumar, who led the protest at Valluvar Kottam on Saturday, said it was unfair that teachers who were graduates were paid over Rs. 700 more every month than the PG teachers, though all of them had the same basic qualification. “We have written to education officials several times requesting them to address the issue,” he said.
The protesters said many of them were being transferred to primary schools to fill in for shortage of teachers there, which stalled their career growth.
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“People who are usually appointed as headmasters or at higher positions are those who have been with the school for long. We are never considered for promotions there and we can never get back to teaching in colleges again,” Mr. Vijayakumar said. There are over 20,000 postgraduate teachers across the State.
The protesters also demanded that the new pension scheme implemented in government institutions be rolled back, as it was variable and dependent on market fluctuations. “The pension being given to us till a few months ago was fixed and we urge the government to go back to that system,” Mr. Vijayakumar said.