Kolkata: A section of guardians locked gates in some schools in various parts of West Bengal on Saturday, a day after a section of teachers allegedly did not attend schools during a strike call given by a joint forum of state government employees demanding hike in Dearness Allowance (DA).
The agitating guardians did not allow teachers to enter schools till the administration intervened and restored normalcy.
Around 100 parents of students of a primary school at Balagarh in Hooghly district prevented the teachers from entering the premises.
A block official said the teachers had to sit in a field outside the school building for over two hours after which a police force came and unlocked the gate.
Suresh Das, a guardian, said, "Our children had to return from school yesterday after finding the gate closed. We were not informed of this. We, therefore, decided that none of the teachers will be allowed to take classes today."
In a similar incident at a secondary school at Ashoknagar in North 24 Parganas district, some parents locked the main gate and demonstrated against the teachers when they reached there.
A district official said, "There was a commotion initially. The matter was brought under control with the intervention of the administration."
Headmaster Baren Chatterjee said, "It was not possible on the part of the authorities to forcibly bring teachers to the school... As for Saturday, the administration has taken steps to resume classes and normalcy was later restored."
Similar incidents occurred in two schools at Kulbani in Paschim Medinipur district and Raidighi in South 24 Parganas district.
Officials of the two districts said classes were disrupted but the situation was under control.
A school education department official had said on Friday that classes were held as usual in educational institutions across the state.
Eighteen organisations of the West Bengal government employees called for a strike in offices and schools and colleges on March 10 demanding a hike in DA. The state government on Friday evening had claimed that 90 per cent attendance was recorded at various departments.
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