Teachers' strike pulls out students to streets
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, February 09 2019:
The indefinite cease work strike launched by RMSA and SSA teachers in the State since February 4 has pulled out a large number of students from their classrooms to the streets.
Students of different Government schools located in Thoubal, Kakching and Imphal East districts came out to streets today and staged protest demonstrations demanding the State Government to bring a solution to the teachers' strike and enable them to pursue their studies without any such disruption.
Notably, there are around 3500 SSA and RMSA teachers in the State but they have not been paid their salaries for the past 8/9 months.
The teachers launched the cease work strike demanding payment of salaries regularly and creation of promotion avenue.
With the RMSA and SSA teachers on strike, very few teachers are available in Government schools to teach students, sources said.
As the State Government is still reluctant to talk with the agitating teachers about their demands, it is unlikely that the cease work strike would be called off any time soon.
On the other, DESAM, while noting that the teachers' demands are quite legitimate, alleged that Education Minister Th Radheshyam has been speaking to demean and project the teachers' strike in the wrong light.
A press release issued by DESAM said that the teachers' ongoing indefinite cease work strike at the beginning of the new academic session would prove to a serious blow to all Government schools which are suffering from shortage of students.
No parent would wish to send their children to Government schools where there are no teachers or where the teachers are on strike, it said.
The student body further questioned the objective and purpose of the Government's Go to School Mission when it cannot pay salaries to a large number of teachers for many months.
The State Government and the Minister concerned need to ponder over how the teachers have been struggling to meet their daily expenditures including expenditures for going to schools when they have not been paid salaries for eight/nine months, it said.
The demand of SSA and RMS A teachers to create promotion avenue is within their rights, DESAM asserted.
It then appealed to the agitating teachers to shift their mode of agitation to a constructive one.