Teachers protest against TET, set recognition

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Teachers’ unions, school management representatives, and non-teaching staff organisations held a massive protest rally from Kranti Chowk to the District Collector’s office on Friday. The protest was against the mandatory Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) requirement and strict rules related to school recognition (sanction norms). Many schools were kept closed as part of the protest. A large number of women teachers also participated.

A delegation of the unions submitted a memorandum of demands to the District Collector, after which the march ended.

Following the Supreme Court ruling, the TET exam has been made compulsory for all teachers. Opposing this decision, teachers’ organisations across the state had called for a “school bandh.” The Teachers’ Coordination Committee claimed the bandh received a strong response in the city and district. However, the School Education Department stated that most schools, except a few, remained open.

The march began at 2 pm . Protesters carried placards and shouted slogans as they proceeded from Kranti Chowk through Paithan Gate, Gulmandi, and City Chowk, finally reaching the District Collector’s office. The rally was addressed by chief coordinator Vijay Salakar, Federation of School Managements and former Education officer M.K. Deshmukh, Tejrao Patil Gadekar, Chandrakant Chavan, Govind Ugle, Deepak Pawar, Santosh Tathe and others. The delegation then submitted the list of demands.

26 Organisations participated

The organisations included:

Primary Teachers’ Committee, Shikshak Sena, Shikshak Bharti, Marathwada Teachers’ Union, Maharashtra State Old Pension Association, Shikshak Sangh (Sambajirao Thorat group), All India Urdu Teachers’ Association, Prahar Teachers & Non-Teaching Staff Union, Teachers’ Committee, Urdu Teachers’ Organisation, Shikshak Parishad (Unhale group), Shikshak Bharti (Private), Punjabrao Deshmukh Teachers’ Parishad, MUFTA Union, Maharashtra State Private Non-Teaching Staff Union, Maharashtra Shikshak Parishad, Non-Teaching Federation, Headmasters’ Federation, NCP Teachers’ Union, NCP Teachers’ Organisation, School Management Association, BJP Teachers’ Union, Maharashtra State Headmasters’ Federation, Kranti Shikshak Sena, Maharashtra School Owners’ Association, Headmasters’ Union, and Happy to Help Organisation.

Main Demands

The memorandum submitted included 15 demands, such as:

—- Teachers appointed before the 23 August 2010 notification should continue to get exemption from TET.

—-- The 2017 NCTE notification should be cancelled.

—- The rule on minimum student strength required to retain approved teaching posts should be scrapped.

—- Stop ongoing actions based on incorrect interpretation of TET results.

—- Reinstate the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).