Teachers at several private schools in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi district have alleged widespread salary fraud, underpayment and exploitative working conditions, with one priest-run matriculation school accused of using pre-signed cheques to reclaim most of the salaries credited to teachers’ bank accounts, as per The New Indian Express report.
The allegations stated that the reported practices were prevalent across several private schools in the district.
According to teachers from St. Assisi Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Pavoorchatram, the management allegedly informed newly recruited teachers that their actual monthly salary would range between ₹7,000 and ₹12,000. However, they alleged that staff from a Kerala-based private sector bank with a branch in Tirunelveli were brought to the school to open salary accounts for new recruits and issue cheque books.
Private schools’ atrocities: FYI Minister @imrajmohan sir, @CollrTenkasi. Over the past two weeks, I met several teachers from diff pvt schools. Here’s how a priest-run St Assisi Matric HSS in Pavoorchatram exploits its teachers.
//Teachers explained: “When a teacher joins the… pic.twitter.com/b4Q9pvFuXY
— Thinakaran Rajamani (@thinak_) June 27, 2026
The teachers alleged that on the same day the accounts were opened, the management required them to sign all the cheque leaves and surrender the cheque books.
According to the teachers, on salary day they would receive SMS alerts showing that amounts ranging from ₹30,000 to ₹40,000 had been credited to their bank accounts. Shortly thereafter, they alleged that the entire amount was withdrawn using the pre-signed cheques by school staff acting on the management’s instructions. They claimed they were subsequently paid only the previously agreed amount of ₹7,000 to ₹12,000 in cash.
The teachers alleged that while similar practices existed in several private schools, the method adopted by the Pavoorchatram school amounted to fraudulent manipulation of salary records submitted to the State government.
They further claimed that school managements inflated salary figures in official records while paying teachers substantially lower amounts in reality. According to them, this resulted in widespread exploitation of private school teachers across the district.
Teachers urged the State government to frame clear guidelines to ensure that educators received their legitimate salaries and to prevent fraudulent payroll practices by private school managements.
Teachers from other private schools in Tenkasi also described various forms of alleged exploitation.
A teacher employed at a private school in Alangulam alleged that the management paid around ₹8,000 in cash without maintaining transparency regarding official salary records submitted to the government. The teacher claimed that employees were denied access to internal records and feared losing their jobs if they raised complaints regarding low wages.
The teacher further stated that workers engaged in beedi rolling earned more than many school teachers and alleged that, unlike government school teachers, private school staff did not have the freedom to protest against such practices.
A woman nursery teacher employed at another private school near Alangulam alleged that she worked between nine and ten hours daily for a monthly salary of around ₹4,500. She claimed that teachers were granted only two days of leave per month, with salary deductions for additional leave.
She further alleged that arriving late by even one minute on three occasions within a month was treated as one day’s leave, resulting in loss of pay. According to her, several women teachers continued in the profession only because of their commitment to teaching despite poor working conditions. She also alleged that married women teachers were indirectly pressured by the management to resign after marriage.
When contacted by The New Indian Express, Tenkasi Chief Educational Officer Renuga reportedly said that the department could not initiate action against schools unless affected teachers submitted formal complaints.
The official reportedly acknowledged that allegations of underpayment had been heard for a long time but said that no teacher had come forward with a formal complaint against any school management. She reportedly added that teachers who believed they were being underpaid could choose to leave their jobs.
According to the report, repeated attempts to obtain a response from School Education Minister A. Rajmohan were unsuccessful.
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