Telangana SC/ST teachers staged a protest

Hyderabad, Aug 22: The Telangana SC/ST Upadyayula Sangham on Monday have staged a protest in front of the department of school education office here on Monday while demanding the govt to strictly implement GO 342, which allows scheduled caste and scheduled tribe teachers to go for higher education.

About 500 teachers participated in the protest and tried to meet the director of school education. While the teachers claim that about 200 of them are taken into preventive custody, police said that 30 of them were picked up and were later released.

The protesters said that there was a disparity between SC/ST teachers and teachers belonging to other categories.

"We have made multiple requests to education minister and other educational officials, asking them to solve our problems. But the government is least bothered to address our concern and that is the reason why we have gheraoed the DSE's office," Kishan Nayak, state president of the organization.

The protesters said the government's decision to make amendments to the existing GO will deprive them of higher education opportunities.The Telangana Teachers Federation (TTF) also extended its support to the protesting SC and ST teachers and participated in the protest.

According to the new memo released by the only employees with five years' service are eligible to take paid leave to study. Also, this is applicable only for first generation teacher's and would not be considered for future promotions.