Prathemik Shikshak Sangh (PSS), the association of primary teachers of Government schools, has taken back its programme of holding protest meetings at education offices on Monday. Informing about the decision the district president of Dehradun, V S Krishali said that the association has suspended its plan of agitation after a positive response of the education department on its major demand.
The PSS is demanding that the department should initiate the long pending process of promotion of primary teachers. Krishali said that the Joint Secretary Primary education, M S Bisht assured the PSS that the process of promotions in the department would soon start.
It appears that the whip of disciplinary action against teachers who took part in the protest of Friday prompted the PSS to suspend its agitation. Taking a strong exception of teachers locking their schools and participating in sit ins at the offices of district education department, the Director General (DG) of school education, D Senthil Pandian ordered the Primary education Director Seema Jaunsari to deduct one day’s pay of the teachers who participated in the agitation. More importantly the department would consider the absence as break in service. The DG was particularly peeved on the fact that teachers choose to agitate on the day when the schools were reopening after long winter vacations.
It is worth mentioning here that the Government schools were closed for Saturday on account of Guru Govind Singh Jayanti and Sunday which meant an extended vacation for many teachers of Dehradun. The DG said that the absconding teachers also defied the orders of Supreme Court on Mid Day Meal (MDM) scheme and the department would adopt a zero tolerance policy in such cases.
It is learnt that 95 teachers are shortlisted by the department against whom the disciplinary action would be initiated and process of identifying more teachers is currently in progress.
The teachers however are feeling offended by this act of of department and are terming it provocative. “The process of promotion is being delayed from 2014 due to which hundreds of teachers are affected and many teachers have superannuated without promotions. We have raised this demand on many occasions but nothing happened.
The association had given an advance intimation of agitation so the department’s action is unjustified and amounts to provocation,’’ one of an office bearers of the PSS said. The leaders would meet on Monday and discuss their future plan of action on the matter.