JACTO’s strike leaves little impact on functioning of schools

Members stage demonstrations across Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari districts

Demands:Teachers staging a demonstration in Tirunelveli; (right) students inside a classroom without teachers at the Corporation Middle School in Tuticorin on Thursday.— Photos: M.Lakshmi Arun and N. Rajesh

The State-wide strike called by the JACTO (Joint Action Committee of Teachers’ Organisation) in support of their 15-point charter of demands on Thursday did not have any impact on the normal functioning of the schools in the district.

Demanding pay on par with Central Government teachers, weeding out pay anomalies, withdrawal of contributory pension scheme and condemning inflation and ‘anti-teachers’ policies’ of the Central and the State Governments, the JACTO had called for a nationwide strike of the teachers on October 8.

In the demonstration held in front of the District Educational Officer’s Office on S.N. High Road, Tamil Nadu Post-graduate Teachers’ Association office-bearers A. Charles Neil, S. Paulraj, P. Manoharan and S. Mayil participated along with 350 teachers. A few of them also took part in the demonstration organised in front of the Office of Chief Educational Officer.

Of the 6,198 teachers working with 336 government and aided high and higher secondary schools in the district, only 53 of them (30 from government and 23 from aided schools) participated in the strike and 135 of them (86 from government and 49 from aided schools) went on leave. In the elementary section, 1,509 of the 7,604 teachers participated in the strike.

Joint Director of School Education Sridevi said all schools in the district were functioning normally and that the strike did not have any impact on the teaching – learning process. However, the JACTO’s district coordinator Mr. Paulraj claimed that more than 60 per cent of the teachers participated in the strike.

In neighbouring Tuticorin district, functioning of primary and middle schools was allegedly affected after 1,166 of the 4,140 teachers participated in the strike. However, only 9 of the 3,907 teachers in the high and higher secondary schools took part in the strike, education department sources said. But 14 panchayat union primary and middle schools had to be closed as teachers did not turn up for work.

JACTO office-bearers T. Sundarsingh, S. Samuel Durai, S. Krishnakumari spoke in the demonstration held here on Thursday.

Nagercoil

The Joint Action Committee of Teachers’ Organisation (JACTO), an umbrella body of 10 teachers’ associations, had called for a one-day strike to press for their 15-point charter of demands including pay anomalies with their counterparts working in the Central government institutions on Thursday.

The Chief Educational Officer, V. Jayakumar, told The Hindu that all government and aided high and higher secondary schools in the district functioned normally with 75 per cent of the teachers turning up for duty, he said. Whereas in primary and middle level, 15 schools did not function fully in Melpuram and Thiruvattar Panchayat Unions on Thursday. However, the schools were kept open with teachers deputed from other schools, said the District Elementary Education Officer (DEEO), Subramanian.

He told The Hindu that out of 531 schools including 373 government and 158 aided schools, 15 did not function.

Out of the 2,135 teachers working in these schools, 357 from government and 33 from aided schools absented themselves from duty in an unauthorised manner for participating in the strike, he said. A total of 1,182 teachers were working in government schools and 953 in aided schools, Mr. Balasubramaniam said.

Over 500 members of JACTO staged a demonstration, presided over by its convenor P. Theagarajan, in front of the Collectorate. V.L . Benin, B.T. and Tamil Pandit Teachers’ Association inaugurated the demonstration. C. Vallivelu, State General Secretary, TNPGTA participated.