Government-Aided Schools in Chennai May Face Delay in Teacher Salaries

CHENNAI: Teachers and staff in government-aided schools are facing a potential delay in their September salary. Funds required to prepare salary bills have not yet been allocated in the system, sources said. Nearly 75,000 teachers working in over 8,000 government-aided schools under the School Education Department have their monthly salaries processed through the government’s Integrated Financial and Human Resources Management System (IFHRMS). Salary bills are usually enabled after the middle of every month. After the bills are generated, they have to be submitted to the respective school secretary for approval, and then to the education authorities, following which supporting documents are uploaded before payments can be processed. “We are unable to generate bills for arrears due to teachers this month. It will be difficult to complete the process for all schools within the remaining 10 days. The approval process has also become more circuitous in recent months, with headmasters having to get the bills approved by the concerned officers instead of the officers uploading them online themselves. This needs to be simplified,” said a headmaster. Meanwhile, officials from the School Education Department said they were in discussions with the Finance Department on the issue and were working to ensure that salaries are credited on time.