Teachers at around 52 private schools from the city and around 1,600 schools from Maharashtra are set to go on strike
Teachers at around 52 private schools from the city and around 1,600 schools from Maharashtra are set to go on strike. On September 5, they will observe a ‘Black Teacher’s Day’ as a form of protest, demanding the inclusion of unaided schools into aided ones.
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Over 1,000 teachers will join the protest in the city, while around 25,000 may take part in the state. The strike could be held in Aurangabad, Nashik, Pune, Nagpur, Nanded and Latur. With around 400 students per school, the strike is likely to affect over 20,000 students in the city. The teachers, angry at the ‘double standards’ of the government, believe that its high time they are given their dues.
In the year 2000, hundreds of unaided schools were granted permission to convert into government-aided schools, as a lot of lower and middle-class children depend on them. “After the decision of giving us aid was taken in 2000, the paperwork took 9 years to happen. Even after that, the government kept postponing saying they don’t have funds. This kind of hypocrisy will not be tolerated,” said Sanjay Sundarlal Daawre, teacher at Saraswati Vidyalaya and president of the Maharashtra Rajya Vina-Anudanit Shaala Kruti Samiti, Mumbai.
Teachers paid less
The teachers at these schools, who are paid as little as R1,500, also do petty jobs as their salaries aren’t enough. “In the budgets, the rich and powerful get richer, and for people who are actually trying to uplift the downtrodden, the government always ‘runs out of funds’,” Daawre added. Prashant Redij, President of the Principals’ Association of Mumbai, said, “The transfer from unaided to aided meant that our students will get books for free, mid day meals and other schemes.”
Promised immediate action
In a meeting with Minister for School education Vinod Tawde on Monday, teachers were promised immediate action. “Vinod Tawde, had promised implementation of the transfer immediately but it’s been 2 years, no action has been taken. In our meeting, he promised that the Black Teachers’ Day will not be needed, but we are not very hopeful,” Redij said.
He also said, “We will also install Ganpati idols where we are going to protest, as a sign that the lord himself is protesting against this injustice.”
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