Around 1,800 people — Secondary Grade Teachers (SGTs), teachers hired on a temporary basis in government schools, and unemployed individuals who have cleared the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) in 2013 — are on an indefinite hunger strike in Chennai with various demands. As of Friday, September 29, the protesters, who came to the city from Ranipet, Salem, Cuddalore and other districts of Tamil Nadu, have been on hunger strike at the Directorate of Public Instruction (DPI) campus for two to five days.
For temporary government school teachers demanding permanent employment, Friday marked their fifth consecutive day of protest. The SGTs (who teach classes 1-8 in government schools) and the unemployed protestors embarked on their second day of protest, demanding better pay and employment respectively. Around 40 protesters were rushed to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital and many more were receiving medical aid at the protest site.
The temporary government school teachers began their protest on September 25 with a strength of more than one thousand teachers. Rajula, a temporary teacher from Tirunelveli district, told TNM, “We have been teaching on a temporary basis in government schools for the last 12 years. Our salary today is only Rs 10,000 and we are denied all benefits of a government job. Before coming to power in 2021, the DMK government promised us permanent employment — promise number 181 in their manifesto.”
DMK’s manifesto for the 2021 Assembly election said that “part-time art, music and physical education teachers will be considered for permanent employment in the Department of School Education.” Around 12,200 permanent teachers including Rajula have been waiting for a permanent job for the last 10-12 years, the protesters said.
The SGTs began protesting on Thursday, September 28. It has been their long-pending demand that SGTs appointed before and after May 31, 2009, receive the same pay. At present, SGTs who were appointed after June 1, 2009, are paid Rs 3,170 less each month than those appointed before that date for the same role. Previously, on December 27, 2022, the SGTs went on a similar hunger strike for four days. They withdrew their protest after Chief Minister MK Stalin announced that a committee would be set up to study their demand.
The Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers’ Association’s (SSTA) general secretary J Robert told TNM, “We withdrew our hunger strike last year because the ruling government promised to form a committee and look into our concerns. However, it has been nine months and we have not even seen one report prepared by the committee. Several female teachers are here with their children, sitting under the sun without eating for more than 24 hours. Our protest this time will continue until the government fulfils their poll promise number 311.” As per the DMK’s poll promise number 311, 20,000 teachers appointed on or before May 31, 2009, are to receive equal wages as their colleagues appointed after them, Robert added.
Adjacent to the SGTs’ protest, nearly 300 unemployed persons who passed the Teacher Eligibility Test in 2013 also continued their second day of hunger strike. Thamarai Selvi from Chengalpattu district said, “We all cleared TET in 2013 and we had completed our document verification as well. Since then, we have been waiting for our appointment order. It has been 10 years since, and we have remained unemployed.”
As per a Government Order (GO) from 2018, those who had cleared the TET exam were required to write an additional test for appointment. But the DMK, under their 2021 poll promise number 177, assured that the 2018 GO will not stand in the way of these teachers’ employment since they had passed the eligibility test five years before the GO was passed, Thamarai Selvi noted. “We demand MK Stalin to keep his promise,” she said.
Mohan Das from Viluppuram district who was also protesting alongside Thamarai Selvi added, “Some of us, including myself, have crossed the age limit (57) to be appointed as a government teacher. An additional problem is that for the second test that the 2018 GO mandates, the upper age limit is 42. Many aspirants have crossed that limit as well.”
Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) leader Premalatha Vijayakanth visited the DPI campus on Friday. She said that she would represent all the protesting groups and highlight their demands to RN Ravi, Governor of Tamil Nadu. “If no one takes action, I will strike with all of you on behalf of DMDK,” she added.