Surat schools to strike on Monday

SURAT, July 8: Teaching at more than 70 secondary schools of the city will come to a halt on July 12, as a mark of protest against, what ...

SURAT, July 8: Teaching at more than 70 secondary schools of the city will come to a halt on July 12, as a mark of protest against, what the Surat Shahar Shala Sanchalak Mandal SSSSM termed as, non-educational policy of the State government.

This was decided at a meeting held by the managements of secondary schools. Teachers of more than 70 city schools, getting grants from the government, will abstain from teaching work 8212; though they would remain present in the schools 8212; as a part of the token strike.

According to the managements, the State government had not sanctioned posts of any new teachers for the past many years and had instead come up with a general resolution asking aided schools to reduce the number of teachers.

The token strike was to draw the attention of the government to its unprofessional attitude which would adversely affect education, they claimed, adding that stringent measures could be initiated if required.

SSSSM chairman Dr Rattan Marshall claimed that the recent policies and decisions of the State government had directly harmed teaching and students8217; interests. 8220;The government is providing grants to the schools but then the decisions and policies are in no way helping education. Monday8217;s token strike is for this sole purpose,8221; he said.

More severe in criticising the government was veteran educationist Sumantrai Trivedi, who is also SSSSM secretary. 8220;The government decision to cut down teachers8217; number is against the law and at the cost of the students8217; education,8221; he argued. Admission problems in class XI this year was a direct fallout of the government decision, as no additional teachers had been recruited for the past five years and the present salaries were low by all standards, he added.

Another point of contention is the number of students in each class. Trivedi said that according to the law there could be not more than 55 students per class at the secondary level and 56 at the higher secondary level. But there were as many as 90 students in each class because of which students suffered. So the government had allowed for opening of new classes, but had not sanctioned recruiting new teachers, he alleged. 8220;This policy is simply not in the interest of education and has to be brought to the notice of the authorities,8221; Trivedi said, justifying the token strike on Monday.

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The SSSSM also alleged that though these issues had been brought to the notice of the district education officer on a number of occasions in the past, there was no positive response so far.

Meanwhile, the SSSM is also planning to rein in aided schools from the district as well to join in the strike. Most government aided secondary and higher secondary schools are run by education and welfare trusts in the city.