Ashram school teachers protest, seek termination order reversal

HYDERABAD: Close to 2,000 contract teachers, working with ashram schools under the tribal welfare department, staged a protest in front of Pragathi Bhavan, on Friday, demanding that the state cancel their termination orders and renew their contracts.
The teachers, employed for over a decade said terminating their contracts was absurd.
“Most of us have been working here for more than 15 years.We are in our 40s. Asking us to leave at this age is unreasonable. We joined these Ashram school as teachers when the literacy rate of tribals was just 15 per cent. Over time, we improved it to 85 per cent. And now this is how the government is rewarding us?” said A Shiva Naik, state general secretary, Tribal Contract Teachers Association.
The protesting teachers alleged that the government was not renewing their contracts so that they are forced to work as Vidya volunteers.
“The tribal welfare department renewed contracts of 1,590 people and terminated contracts of 1,936 teachers. Now, they want us to work as Vidya volunteers. We are against this move as these volunteers are not protected and can be removed at any time. Also, they are paid very less when compared to contract teachers,” said Someshwar M, state president of the association, adding that students from Ashram Schools were compelled to move to other schools this academic year, owing to the dearth of teachers.
The teachers began the hunger hartal in the districts two days ago. They shifted it to Hyderabad on Friday, after they failed to get any response from the government. They were later taken to the Goshamahal, Bolaram, and Gopalapuram police stations, “Even now, after our teachers were taken away to police stations, there has been no response from the government,” said Vineet Rao Jadhav from the association.
Over 1.2 lakh students study in 419 ashram schools across the state.