Protests mark teachers8217; day

Teachers8217; Day celebrations remained a silent affair this year as most government schoolteachers8217; chose to give them a miss.

Government schoolteachers give celebrations a miss

Teachers8217; Day celebrations remained a silent affair this year as most government schoolteachers8217; chose to give them a miss. This was done as a sign of protest against the Education Department for not fulfilling their long pending demands. They were also joined by teachers of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan SSA and those serving on a contract basis.

They also held a protest at the Masjid Ground, Sector 20, today.

Talking to Newsline, Arvind Rana, president, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan Teachers8217; Union said: 8220;The department has overlooked even the most basic demands of the teachers. Keeping in view the indifferent attitude of the department, we will not be celebrating the Teacher8217;s Day this year.8221;

He added: 8220;Despite appointing SSA teachers as per the norms of the Central government, the department has not implemented the Central pay grade for us. It has also failed to provide the Provident Fund benefits since the last three years.8221;

He said the department had also reflected its high-handedness by not giving them the salary for the summer vacations. 8220;The department issued the order that we will not be given our salary for the summer vacations, without giving any prior notice.8221;

Madhu Sharma, an SSA teacher said: 8220;The department is also indifferent to the demands of the lady teachers. We get three months8217; maternity leave without pay. Although we had sent many requests to the department to give us leave with pay, nothing has been done so far.8221;

Story continues below this ad

The teachers on a contract basis, too, boycotted the celebrations as they feel the department has failed to protect their rights. 8220;Even after so many years, the department has neither promoted us to the lecturer grade nor prepared any seniority list. We have not been shifted to the regular grade despite instructions by the Governor,8221; said Rajesh Kumar, a teacher.