COIMBATORE: As many as 724 teachers and workers who were employed with the Labour Department on a contract basis under the National Child Labour Eradication Project are out of their jobs as the project has been subsumed under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
The teachers used to handle classes for rescued child labourers for two years in special training centres, before enrolling them in regular schools. Some of the teachers have been working since 1989.
Saravanan*, a teacher working in the training centre for 14 years, said, "Rescued children in the age group of 9-14 are enrolled in the NCLP Special Training Centres (STCs), where they are provided with bridge education, vocational training, mid-day meal, stipend and health care for two years before being admitted into the formal education system. We were getting Rs 10,000 as salary per month. But I have not received salary for the last eight months."
S Alagu Jothi, State Secretary of National Child Labour Project Teachers and Employees Association, who worked as teacher for 23 years under the project, said, "It is not just about our jobs, now the rescued children have no special training centre to get refresher course before enrolling in regular school. Without proper training, these students can't cope with regular school and they might eventually drop out."
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has been implementing National Child Labour Project (NCLP) Scheme through District Project Societies under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate.
According to sources, Rs 3.61 crore which should be distributed as salary to teachers and other workers in the project has been pending in Tamil Nadu since 2017. Further, Rs 2.30 crore which should have been given to the rescued students as stipend is also pending since 2017.
A senior official from NCLP said, "We have communicated the difficulties in the project after it was subsumed with SSA. We have recommended that the project be undertaken by the State."
Responding to stipend dues, he said, "In the project, there was a delay in releasing funds. The children’s bank account was terminated by banks claiming that there was no minimum balance. Due to difficulties like this, children were not getting the stipend regularly."
'Counselling not transparent'
COIMBATORE: Teachers of Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) schools have alleged that the seniority list for transfer counselling was not prepared properly by the education officers. The counselling was conducted on Friday and Saturday.
More than 100 teachers participated in the event, "Some junior teachers got transferred to the place of their choice, instead of senior ones," said some teachers. Despite several attempts, the Corporation education officer K Rajasekarapandiyan was not reachable for comment on this issue.