Contractual teachers in Education Dept hold protest over non-regularisation

Demanding regularisation, teachers working on contractual basis in the Education Department under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), STT, CRC and URC held a protest under the banner of the Joint Action Committee (JAC). The teachers alleged that they had been serving in various government schools in Chandigarh for the past 14 to 24 years, but the Administration had not formulated any secure policy for their job security or for their regularisation.

“More than 500 guest/contract teachers in the Education Department constantly fear losing their jobs, which forces them to work in an environment of fear, making it difficult to focus entirely on teaching. Similarly, a demand was raised to create regular posts for teachers and staff under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and appoint them permanently. The CRC and URC teachers are not being given TGT scale and STT teachers’ salaries are not being increased. It should be noted that these teachers have been serving in the department for the last 14 to 24 years. They have demanded job security and other benefits from the Administration,” said Ranbir Rana, JAC president.

General secretary Shiv Murat Yadav stated that thousands of guest/contract/SSA teachers working in the Education Department feel deceived as they were not being given any benefit for their decades of service. Their salaries and dearness allowances are being withheld, which affects their working, making improvements visible only on paper, not in reality, he added.

The demands in the memorandum include regular posts under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, TGT scale for CRC and URC teachers, release of pending DA of guest/contract and SSA teachers, increase in salary of STT teachers, creation of vice-principal posts, increase in casual leave of regular teachers and salaries for counsellors during vacations.