Teacher bodies announce march towards CM’s Sangrur residence

Chandigarh: Three teachers' organisations announced that preparations have been completed for a ‘betrayal march' towards the chief minister's residence in Sangrur on April 11, protesting what they termed the Punjab govt's ‘failure' to fulfil commitments on education policy, old pension scheme and the imposition of TET-related conditions. The decision was taken during a joint meeting of the Democratic Teachers Front led by state president Vikramdev Singh, another faction of the Democratic Teachers Front headed by Digvijay Pal Sharma, and the Govt Physical Education Teachers Association Punjab led by state president Jagdish Kumar Jaggi. The organisations resolved to jointly hold the protest march and appealed to other bodies to participate.The leaders said the agitation would continue against the tests allegedly being imposed on teachers by citing a Supreme Court ruling. They claimed that the Punjab education minister earlier assured that a review petition would be filed against the TET-related requirement and that a Bill would be introduced in the Assembly, but neither step was taken. They alleged this amounted to a breach of promise with the teaching community.They further stated that chief minister Bhagwant Mann had earlier assured that the National Education Policy 2020 would not be implemented in Punjab and that the state would formulate its own education policy. They said the Punjab Cabinet also passed a resolution on Sept 5, 2024, in this regard. However, the organisations alleged that the policy was being implemented in the state. They also claimed that an incomplete notification on restoring the old pension scheme was issued, but not implemented, and that the standard operating procedure was not released, nor General Provident Fund accounts opened. According to the announcement, a state-level gathering will be held on April 11, 2026, after which the "vaada khilafi march" will proceed towards the chief minister's residence in Sangrur. The leaders said teachers were already subject experts and did not require additional tests to prove their competence. They alleged that such examinations were unnecessary and linked them to policy measures mentioned in the National Education Policy 2020, including a tenure-track system and testing linked to promotions and annual increments. MSID:: 130144175 413 |