The striking State Govt.-run School Teachers, who have been staging a fast-unto-death relay protest inside the DPI Complex on College Raod in Nungambakkam, Chennai, have asserted that their strike would continue till their demands are met.

Teachers have been demanding ‘equal work, equal pay’ stating that they didn’t want discriminatory treatment. In Govt.-run Schools across the State, teachers appointed prior to 31st May, 2009 are reportedly not getting as much salary and perks when compared to those who were appointed after this date. The striking teachers have been urging the Govt. to do away with this disparity in pay.

The protests commenced at DPI campus on Monday (24th December). The teachers were later arrested and kept at Rajarathinam Stadium at Egmore. Their protests continue for the 3rd day yesterday. Strike by teachers, who are supposed to value the exam papers of students who had just wrapped up their half-yearly exams, has actually hampered the paper-correction work.

The Govt. had appealed to the teachers to consider postponing their protest to the second week of January. Yesterday, the Teachers’ Federation held talks with School Education Secretary Pradeep Yadav for the second time in the past few days after which it decided to continue the strike in the absence of any guarantee by the State Govt. to address their pay-related grievances.