At Gidderbaha on Nov 3 and at Barnala and Chabbewal on Nov 8
Teachers to hold massive protests over unmet demands on Nov 3 and 8
Ferozepur, October 30, 2024: The teacher community in Punjab, have announced large-scale protests against the state government's handling of the education system, scheduled to begin in Gidderbaha on November 3 and at Barnala and Chabbewal on November 8 These demonstrations follow a growing discontent over unmet demands and what educators claim are anti-people policies under the "Education Revolution" and "Change" initiatives.
Malkit Singh Haraj, District President and educators argue that while their departmental and financial demands remain unresolved, the state has imposed the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, side-lining local concerns. Teachers claim this policy, along with excessive non-teaching duties, is degrading education standards. In addition to Gidderbaha, further protests will occur on November 8 in Barnala and Chabbewal.
Key grievances include long-standing cases of employment injustices, such as delays in regularizing pending teaching appointments under the ODL scheme, retraction of promised promotions, and denial of allowances and increments. Teachers also demand the reinstatement of thousands of eliminated positions in primary, middle, and secondary schools, emphasizing the need for an education policy aligned with Punjab's unique needs. Dr. Ravinder Kamboj, and Narinder Bhandari, ODL, have been victims of injustice and discrimination for a decade.
The education department has faced criticism for launching initiatives like "Mission Samarth" and CEP, which teachers say divert them and students from the prescribed syllabus. Furthermore, the delay in fulfilling election promises, non-implementation of revised pay scales, and unequal treatment compared to other states, have spurred frustration.
The leaders said that despite the Education Minister agreeing in three consecutive meetings to cancel the regular letters of the pending teachers and the regular orders of 14 Hindi teachers out of 7654 recruitment and the transfer of Mukhtiar Singh, who is a victim of political rivalry, the issues have not been resolved.
They said, the teachers have been forced to forego promotions by restricting promotions from Master to Lecturer to a few schools and the pending promotions of all other cadres (ETT, Master, Head Teacher, Lecturer, Principal, C&V, OCT and Non-Teaching etc.) have not been completed by correcting the seniority lists.
They questioned why the court decisions to give basic salary to 5178 teachers during contract employment and to give permanent recruitment benefits to 3442 teachers from initial contract appointment are not being generalized. Besides, why are double shift school principals and non-teaching teachers being made victims of discrimination by increasing the working hours and not giving all the financial benefits from the dates of training for 3582, 4161 master cadre teachers to why the contract employment not being considered eligible for the increase in annual unexpected holidays of male teachers.
As a result, teachers from across Punjab are expected to participate in protests in large numbers. Leaders, including General Secretary Amit Kumar and members Sarabjit Singh and Gurvinder Singh Khosa, reiterated their commitment to addressing these issues and pressuring the government for accountability and reform.