Schools to stay closed as teachers go on strike

About 5,500 Government-granted schools will remain closed from Wednesday following the indefinite strike call given by the State Secondary and Higher Secondary School Teachers’ Federation. The strike call was given during a rally at Gandhinagar on Tuesday, in which nearly 30,000 teachers of the State had participated.

The secondary and higher secondary teachers are agitating against the Government for not accepting their demands and have vowed to continue with the strike till the Government agreed to fulfill their demands or give an assurance in writing that their demands will be taken up.

The main demands of the teachers include pay as per the Fifth Pay Commission, parity with the Central Government teachers, along with a transport allowance. Moreover, the teachers are demanding that the 20 per cent cut laid on the recruitment of school teachers and administrative staff should be lifted immediately. Apart from these main demands, the teachers also have a few administrative demands. "These demands are not new. Way back in 1998, Keshubhai Patel had assured us that he will look into the matter and take the necessary actions, but till date, no action has been taken. None of us have the patience to wait any longer, as we have no hope of our demands being fulfilled without a fight,’ Narayanbhai Patel, a member of the federation informed. Narayanbhai was the head of the federation in 1998.

During the rally on Tuesday, the agitating teachers vowed not to let the schools open. They said they would discontinue teaching, till their demands were not agreed upon. According to Narayanbhai, "We will continue with the strike till the Government does not give us in written that our demands have been accepted. We will not return to out classes unless our demands are accepted, even if this takes a month or more" Around 11 am, the rallists gathered and marched towards Sector-VI.

The teachers had brought black pots in which they put the shaved off moustaches of some teachers who did so in protest against the Government. Later they broke the pots outside the Secretariat. The Ch-5 road was blocked for several hours due to the agitation. The crowd was dispersed around 3.30 pm after lot of agitation and slogan shouting.

Republished from The Indian Expresse