Statewide school shutdown called by teachers on Dec 5

Maharashtra's school staff to strike on Dec 5, demanding withdrawal of TET, reinstatement of staff norms, and regular pay grades.

Pune: The teaching and non-teaching staff of primary and secondary schools across Maharashtra on Friday announced a statewide strike on December 5, calling for closure of all schools and a massive march to every district collector’s office to press for their long-pending demands. A circular, issued by teachers’ organisations, stated that in Pune, the march will begin from the new Zilla Parishad building and end with a public meeting in front of the district collector’s office.

A staff member walks inside an empty classroom of a school after Kerala state government ordered the closure of schools across the state, amid coronavirus fears, in Kochi, India March 12, 2020. REUTERS/Sivaram V (REUTERS)

The key demands include withdrawing the government’s decision to make TET (Teacher Eligibility Test) mandatory for all teachers appointed before 2013; cancellation of the Government Resolution dated March 15, 2024 regarding staff pattern approval and reinstating the earlier norms; abolition of the ‘Shikshan Sevak’ contractual model, implementation of full-scale regular pay grades for all teachers, and no assigning of online and non-academic tasks to teachers.

State Headmasters’ Association secretary Nandkumar Sagar said, “Our demands are not new, they have been pending for years. The government has repeatedly ignored the issues faced by teachers. If this continues, we will intensify our agitation. On December 5, we are calling upon every teacher and non-teaching employee to shut schools and join the statewide march in maximum numbers.”