Written by Jasbir MalhiMohali | December 30, 2025 10:04 AM IST 2 min readSpecial Educators’ Union members protest outside the Punjab Education Department building in Mohali's Phase 8 on Monday. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)The ongoing agitation by the Special Educators’ Union (IERT, DSE, DSET), demanding regularisation of their service and protesting the Punjab government’s announcement to recruit special educators from January 1, entered its 127th day on Sunday, with several protesters continuing a sit-in on the seventh floor of the education department building.The protesting teachers, engaged under the Inclusive Education for Disabled (IED) component of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, have been demanding regularisation of their services, citing uninterrupted service of 18 to 20 years in educating children with special needs.“We have devoted our entire careers to special children, yet the government is now recruiting fresh candidates on regular posts and placing them senior to us. This is not just unfair, but humiliating too,” Varinder Vohra, state convener of the union, said.The immediate trigger for the renewed agitation is a public notice issued by the state government, announcing regular recruitment of special educators from January 1. The union alleges that the recruits would be granted regular status and seniority, while the existing educators, many nearing retirement, continue on contractual terms.“A teacher, who is 50 years old, with barely seven to eight years of service left, is being told that someone recruited tomorrow will become his senior. This is nothing short of a cruel joke,” Vohra said.According to the union, members held over 200 meetings with a Cabinet sub-committee formed for contractual employees, chaired by the Finance Minister, but without any concrete outcome. “Every meeting ended with assurances and deadlines, and none of which were honoured,” they said.The educators also alleged “discriminatory treatment” by the department. Teaching cadre employees were regularised in 2018 without any conditions, while non-teaching staff were regularised in 2025. “We are labelled as teachers at one point and non-teachers at another, but denied the benefits of either category,” the union said.Story continues below this adAs part of their protest, some members have been camping atop the education department building since December 26, refusing to come down until written orders assuring regularisation are issued. The union warned to escalate the agitation if the government failed to act.Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:mohali