Teachers' body protests against formation of one directorate of school education

The Primary Teachers Association held a protest against the formation of a single Directorate of School Education and asked the state government to withdraw the decision on Saturday.

The teachers held slogans against the secretary (education) Rakesh Kanwar and the state government.

Pramod Chauhan, president of Primary Teachers' Association in Shimla, said that while the government is bringing reforms in the education sector — something the teachers are also welcoming — the amalgamation of the Directorate of Elementary Education with the Directorate of Higher Education into one organization can harm the basic framework of education instead of introducing qualitative change.

Chauhan stated that the Directorate of Elementary Education was formed post-1984 specifically for the purpose of bringing qualitative improvement in education, and since then, Himachal Pradesh has made big strides in that sector.

He threatened that if the state government keeps on "intimidating" the teachers, then they would halt administrative work from tomorrow and would only do teaching.

Action against protesting teachers

Even as the government warned teachers who organized a sit-in protest against the reorganization of the Directorate of Education to face action, Education Secretary Rakesh Kanwar in orders issued on Saturday stated that those teachers who participated in the agitation and protested "should be identified and disciplinary action be initiated".

The education department has suspended four office-bearers of teachers association, including president Jagdish Sharma, secretary Sanjay, Pratap Thakur and Ram Singh Rao.Teacher office-bearers and some teachers have stated that they will not undertake online work (online attendance, mid-day meal work). The education secretary has referred to this as "flagrant violation" of government directions.

Two teachers suspended as school found closed

Two teachers were suspended when Block Elementary Education Officer ( BEEO) Kupvi district Shimla found the school locked on inspection. The BEEO had visited GPS Shilal on April 25 and discovered JBT Ranveer Chauhan and Dalveer Singh JBT and other staff members and students of GPS Shilal education block Kupvi out of school without notice. During inspection, all the rooms were found to be locked. Taking a strict note, both the JBTs were suspended with immediate effect.