Teachers take to streets on Teachers' Day in city

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Sept 5: Hundreds of teachers took to the streets in Guwahati today, the Teachers’ Day! When they should have been celebrating the Day among their students, they had to take to the streets, shouting slogans like – we vote you, it’s your turn to give us food – full throttle.    

While the Asom Sikshak Karmachari Aikya Mancha (ASKAM) staged a sit-in strike at Dighalipukhuripar in Guwahati, the Assam Non-Provincialized Secondary Teachers-Employees’ Mancha (ANPSTEM) staged a sit-in demonstration at Lakhidhar Bora Khetra in the city today.

ASKAM in-charge general secretary Tilak Das said in a statement issued to the press today that the Education Department revived the process of school provincialization in the State, which had been stopped since 1991, in 2013 only to stop it again. “Till 2013 around 17,000 schools were venture in the State. In the same year, the department provincialized 39,203  posts of 8,246 schools. However, the documents of the remaining schools are being moved between the departments of Education and Fince. There are 2,888 LP schools, 3,153 ME schools, 581 high schools/high madrassas and junior colleges, 162 madrassas and 85 Sanskrit Tools are still venture in the State. Around 30,000 teachers and other employees have been working without any salaries in such venture schools. In the run-up to the last Assembly election in the State, the BJP did assure the people of the state of provincializing educatiol institutions in the State, if it comes to power. BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma was on record saying that, if the BJP comes to power, it will take up the issue of school provincialization in the first Cabinet meeting. However, in its first meeting, the Cabinet has decided to amend the relevant Act before school provincialization. Around 15 lakh students read in such venture schools. Severe cash crunch has also led around 30 teachers and other employees to commit suicide. Around 200 others retired by now without getting a single penny as salaries, and as many teachers and other employees are set to retire next year. If the government doesn’t do anything tangible on school provincialization by December, the teachers will have to take to the streets again.”

After their demonstration, the organization sent a memorandum each to the State Chief Minister and the State Education Minister.

The ANPSTEM, on the other hand, raised its demand for provincialization of 447 secondary schools without any precondition.