Mamata lends a hand to teachers

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will join the protests of students and diploma-holders of the Primary Teachers Training Institutes in the state.

Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee will join the protests of students and diploma-holders of the Primary Teachers Training Institutes PTTIs in the state. The state government is keen to set up a Primary Service Commission that will recruit primary teachers, marking abolition of the existing PTTIs. To protest against the move, the students will launch a protest from the third week of October that will be supported by the Trinamool.

The institutes were recognised by National Council of Teachers Education NCTE and diploma-holders of the institutes were eligible for recruitment in primary schools of the state. In 2006, a petition was filed in the Calcutta High Court accusing the institutes of poor governance, following which the court derecognised the diplomas. As a result, the recruitment of primary teachers in the state came to a halt and thousands of the teachers have not been able to get jobs since then.

The teachers have been protesting against the decision since then. On Monday, a delegation of their representatives met Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee.

8220;A senior Trinamool leader called me last week, asking me to visit Trinamool Bhavan. We held meetings with senior leaders, including Mamata Banerjee, and they promised us all cooperation,8221; said Pintu Parui, the leader of the West Bengal Primary Teachers Training Institute Students8217; Union.

The union had earlier sought the support of the Forward Bloc, a constituent of the Left Front. With no support coming from the Bloc, it turned to the Trinamool.

The union has also been asking the government to go for an out of court settlement of the case. Since the court proceedings are likely to linger on for long, the union favoured to resolve the issue through negotiations. 8220;Last month, we met the CPM state secretary, Biman Bose. We were ready for talks but the government turned down our plea,8221; Parui said.