Hundreds of agitating Shiksha Acharyas organised a march to the State Secretariat on Friday in support of their demand to absorb them as Shiksha Mitras in the State education department. The members of association of Shiksha Acharyas and instructors gathered at old Raipur bus stand near the Parade ground on Friday morning and marched towards the State secretariat.
Addressing the agitators, the President of the association D S Bisht said that it is shocking that the education department has not followed the orders of State cabinet held on March 4 last year in which it had directed appointment of 910 Shiksha Acharyas as Shiksha Mitras.He said that the association is on a path of agitation since last 954 days, but their demands seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
Bisht threatened that the association would be forced to take a path of violent agitation if their demands are further ignored and the government would be solely responsible for any such event.The Shiksha Acharyas were employed at a paltry wage of Rs2,500 per month to bring out of the schoolchildren into the system of elementary education under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in 2001.
For every deprived children like those living in streets, some Alternative and Innovative Education (AIE) centers were also opened under SSA and instructors were posted in them.The government later decided to shut these centers in a phased manner from 2008 and by March 31, 2012, all such centers were closed.
The State government adjusted some Shiksha Acharyas and instructors as Shiksha Mitras in primary schools of the State.Now, the remaining 910 candidates are demanding to be adjusted as Shiksha Mitras, who get a monthly stipend of Rs13,000 per month.The State government had recently inducted about 3,000 Shiksha Mitras as assistant teachers in the primary education department.