E-Paper
Protesting teachers block Punjab education secretary’s office
The education department and education board employees were forced to leave their vehicles inside the premises after 5pm and scale the walls of the office building to go back to their homes
Members of Elementary Teacher Training-Teacher Eligibility Test (ETT-TET) Qualified Unemployed Teachers Union, who are protesting for the past one month, on Wednesday blocked the entry and exit gates of the Punjab education secretary’s office in Phase 8, Mohali.
The education department and education board employees were forced to leave their vehicles inside the premises after 5pm and scale the walls of the office building to go back to their homes.
The teachers are protesting over their long-pending demands of regularisation. Representatives of the teachers’ union said, “We will not retreat till the government agrees to meet our demands and regularise us. Rains, scorching heat or immense cold conditions, nothing can force us to retreat.”
Union leaders Jhujar Singh Sangrur, Deepak Kamboj and Ranjit Singh Bhattiwal said that Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh had in 2016 come to their protest site and promised that once his government comes to power, they will in the first cabinet meeting regularise the services of teachers.
“But now, more than four years have passed but the Captain’s government has not lived up to its promises. So, we have decided to hold massive protests till anyone from the current dispensation comes and gives us assurance. We also demand that our lump sum salary be increased to ₹40,000,” they added.
The protesters demanded that one lakh ETT teachers’ recruitment notification must be published, 2,364 ETT pass teachers must be considered, age limit be relaxed, points for higher qualification be abolished and extra weightage given to education providers and volunteers be withdrawn.
