SGTs Protest Across Telangana Over GO 25, Rising Workload
Secondary Grade Teachers across Telangana staged lunch-break protests against GO 25, multi-grade teaching and additional academic and non-teaching duties.
Secondary Grade Teachers (SGTs) staged lunch-break protests against GO 25 and what they described as growing academic and non-teaching workload in primary schools, while also raising the case of a Jagtial teacher who allegedly attempted suicide after a school-complex meeting.
The protests were reported at ZPHS Indupur and other schools. Secondary Grade Teachers Union (SGTU) wanted GO 25 withdrawn or amended, a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:20 and one teacher for every class. They said duties linked to Foundational Literacy and Numeracy had added to the workload of SGTs.
The union had called for lunch-break protests during school-complex meetings on September 24 and 25 against multi-grade teaching and additional responsibilities.
Teachers also cited the case of Prashanth, an in-charge headmaster at a government primary school in Chiluvakoduru, Gollapalli mandal of Jagtial district. Reports said he consumed sleeping pills and later lost consciousness during a school-complex meeting after officials questioned him about school records. He was taken to a private hospital.
Teacher groups have sought action against officials connected to the episode. They also demanded that teachers be relieved of non-teaching duties so they can focus on classroom instruction.
