On paper, the salary is Rs 30,000. In hand, it is Rs 7,000. That is the gap private school teachers in Tenkasi say they have been living with for years. Most are too scared to say so officially.
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Teachers working in private schools across Tenkasi district in Tamil Nadu have appealed to the state government to intervene after alleging that school managements are manipulating payroll records. The teachers claim that schools are reporting inflated salaries to government authorities while paying staff only a fraction of the declared amount.
The allegations have come from teachers at nursery, matriculation, and CBSE schools across the district. They have also called for strict guidelines to regulate salary payments and prevent exploitation by private school managements.
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Teachers have described a specific method allegedly used by one private matriculation school in Pavoorchatram. According to the teachers, newly recruited staff are told their actual monthly salary will be between Rs 7,000 and Rs 12,000.
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On payday, the school credits approximately Rs 30,000 into each teacher’s bank account. The management then withdraws the full amount using pre-signed cheques that were obtained from the teachers when their bank accounts were opened at a private-sector bank. The teachers are then paid only the originally promised amount in cash.
Teachers alleged that the inflated bank credits were used to create records showing compliance with prescribed pay norms while the actual wages paid remained well below the legal requirement.
A teacher from a school in Alangulam described a different but equally concerning arrangement. The management at that school paid around Rs 8,000 in cash each month and did not open bank accounts for employees at all.
With no bank records and no access to the salary figures submitted to the government, teachers said they had no way of knowing what amounts were officially being declared as their wages.
Beyond salary issues, teachers described difficult working conditions across multiple schools in the district. Several reported workdays stretching up to 10 hours. Others said they faced salary deductions for minor delays in reporting for duty and had access to minimal leave.
Women teachers said they faced indirect pressure to resign after marriage. No specific schools were named in connection with this allegation beyond the general claim that the practice was widespread.
Despite the scale of the alleged exploitation, most teachers said they were reluctant to file formal complaints. The primary reason given was fear of losing their jobs. This reluctance has meant that the allegations have not translated into official complaints with the authorities.
Tenkasi Chief Educational Officer Renuga confirmed that the School Education Department had heard allegations of salary underpayment for years. However, she said the department could not initiate action without written complaints and formal evidence from the affected teachers.
“The School Education Department could not initiate action unless affected teachers submitted written complaints,” Renuga said. She acknowledged that no teacher had come forward with formal evidence previously.
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