Ten thousand Shikshamitra’s who are members from Uttar Pradesh Prathamik Shisksha Mitra Sangh representing over 160,000 Shikahamitra’s from the state of Uttar Pradesh and the Primary Para Teachers Federation of India will sit on a demonstration on 18 June 2013 at Jantar Mantar demanding regularization and better service conditions. The union is being supported by New Trade Union Initiative (NTUI) and the demonstration will be addressed by its leadership.

The Para Teachers are employed under state schemes of the Sarva Sikhsha Abhiyan (SSA) Programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in government and government-aided schools in remote areas and in areas where regular teachers refuse to go such as ‘Naxal affected’ districts according to government (GO 2107/ 79-6-2010 dated 13 August 2010). The para teachers in UP are paid a monthly honorarium of Rs 3500 for eleven months of the year. Many of them have been in employment in their respective schools since 2001.

They are demanding:

(1) Para-teachers be absorbed as regular teachers from their date of joining under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan programme of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

(2) The Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) is mandatory for teacher selection under the RTE Act. This Test is not mandatory for regular teachers teaching prior to the enactment of this Act. Hence it should not also be made mandatory for para-teachers.

(3) Para-teachers be given all statutory rights and benefits under laws governing employment of teachers, including wages for 12 months in the year and paid leave as per government employees

(4) Wages of Para-teachers be fixed in accordance to wage scales of regular teachers with similar experience and qualification. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in February 2013 had assured an increase in monthly wage to Rs 7300 and even this has not been implemented.

(5) Para-teachers should be adequately compensated in lieu of all non-teaching additional work allocated to them such as election duties, socio-economic survey, etc.

The members would also present a charter of demands to the Union Minister for Human Resource Development and are seeking a meeting with him.