Contractual teachers of all Government schools in the State would take to the streets once again to press for their nine-point charter of demands. Around 21,000 teachers across the State would take part in the agitation, said Odisha Government High School Contract Teachers Association (OGHCTA) president Pradipta Kumar Pradhan here on Thursday
Condemning the State Government’s apathetic and step-motherly attitude towards the education system and teaching community, Pradhan said the State Government has deliberately neglected the teachers by treating them as slaves and daily labourers. Their repeated and genuine demands remain unheeded thereby forcing the teachers to resort to agitation, he rued.
The demands include regularization of all contractual teachers who have completed six years of continuous service, grade pay of Rs2,800 to PET teachers, implementation of transfer scheme for teachers, sanction of 18 days leave to teachers and reinstatement of all 3,760 retrenched contractual teachers.
Pradhan further warned that the teachers would be forced to boycott the upcoming Matriculation Examination if the demands are met at the earliest.
Meanwhile, Secondary Education Deputy Director Surekha Tarai Reddy at an emergency review meeting held in Ganjam district instructed the concerned officials to ensure that the Matriculation Examination scheduled to begin from February 22 is conducted smoothly and be made more disciplined.