Chennai: Though the government has started recruiting temporary schoolteachers, the strike by government staff and teachers, spearheaded by JACTO-GEO, showed no signs of ending.
The government had set a deadline – today – for teachers to return to their workplace but there was little impact among the striking teachers and government staff. It said it would announce as vacant the posts of teachers on strike and fill them with temporary staff to run the schools.
The teachers and government staff have been on strike from 22 January, pressing for their 9-point charter of demands that includes returning to the old pension scheme.
According to reports, the School Education Department has issued a circular to district education officers to draw up a list of likely vacant posts and start appointing temporary teachers on a consolidated pay of Rs 10,000.
For their part, members of JACTO-GEO have urged the government to hold talks with them to resolve the deadlock.
In the meantime, parents and students are getting restive. In a few places like Tirupur, they have even staged protests against the striking teachers. In Pudukottai district, about 90 per cent of government schools have been closed.