CHENNAI: More than 37,000 primary school teachers across the state staged protests outside chief educational offices in their respective districts on Tuesday. The protesters have put forward 31 demands, including the withdrawal of Government Order 243, which alters the seniority process in promotions and transfers from block-level to state-level.
According to the school education department, over 30% of elementary school teachers were on leave owing to the protest. As per data, of the 1.2 lakh elementary teachers in the state, 84,864 were present and 37,479 were absent.
The protest was organised by the Tamil Nadu Elementary Teachers Organisations-Joint Action Committee (TETO-JAC), a collective of 12 elementary school teachers’ associations. TETO-JAC members noted that the strike had particularly affected rural schools with only one or two teachers.
“Around 1,000 teachers participated in protests in each district. If our demands are not met after this protest, we will lay siege to the secretariat for three continuous days from September 29 to October 1,” said a TETO-JAC office-bearer. He added that the majority of primary school teachers oppose G.O. 243 and the number of protesting teachers is expected to grow.
Meanwhile, officials from the school education department have announced plans to hold talks with TETO-JAC to resolve the issue. Although discussions were held on September 6 urging the collective to withdraw the protest, TETO-JAC expressed dissatisfaction with the department’s responses and proceeded with the demonstration. The department had earlier released a circular that the action will be taken against the members of the associations if they pressurise teachers to protest.