On 5 October, 2023, Minister of School Education Anbil Mahesh declared an increase in salaries for 10,359 part-time teachers in Tamil Nadu, raising their pay from Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,500. Additionally, the government is set to introduce a medical insurance scheme offering coverage of up to Rs 10 lakh.
Mahesh has also revealed the formation of a three-member committee to assess the demands of secondary teachers who are currently agitating. The committee will make recommendations to the government within three months, and a report will be submitted. However, the protesting teachers have declared their intention to continue their protest.
The protesting teachers can be categorised into three groups: the first group comprises part-time special teachers seeking increased consolidated pay and permanent positions; the second group aims for an increase in their basic pay, which has remained unchanged since 2009; and the third group is demanding an expansion of the age limit for eligibility to take the teacher eligibility test (TET) and is requesting the recall of government order (GO) 149 related to the TET examination.
In response to the ongoing strike, the Chennai Police detained over 1,000 government school teachers, including part-time teachers, who have been demonstrating at the Directorate of Public Institutions for more than a week, demanding higher salaries.
