Hyderabad: Leaders of various teacher unions have called for a massive turnout for the ‘Parliament March’ in Delhi on 5 February, organised under the banner of the All India Joint Action Committee of Teachers’ Organisations (AI JACTO). The demonstration aims to force the Central Government to address a series of grievances, most notably the exemption of senior teachers from the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET).

Other core demands include the complete repeal of the National Education Policy (NEP), a halt to school mergers and closures, the abolition of the National Pension System (NPS) in favour of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), equal pay for equal work, and the granting of voting rights to primary teachers in Teachers’ MLC elections.

The call to action was issued during a round table meeting on Wednesday at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram, chaired by AI JACTO Steering Committee member and STU State President G Sadanandam Goud. Union leaders expressed strong condemnation of the silence maintained by the Central Government and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) following a Supreme Court judgment on TET four months ago.

They alleged that the NCTE failed to clarify to the court that teachers appointed before 23 August 2010 were originally exempt under its own notifications. The leaders warned that if forced to clear the TET, lakhs of senior teachers could lose their livelihoods within two years, potentially leading to the collapse of the public schooling system and depriving underprivileged children of their right to education.