Various organisations have called for a 'school shutdown' on Friday (December 5) to draw attention to various pending issues related to schools in the state. Accordingly, all types of schools, including local government schools, as well as aided and unaided schools, may remain closed. However, keeping in mind the interests of students, the Director of Education, Pune has ordered to ensure that no school remains closed, and has asked to cut the salary of the principal, teachers and non-teaching staff of the schools that remain closed by one day.
A review petition should be filed on the Supreme Court's decision regarding the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET). Various organisations have called for a 'school shutdown' on Friday to draw attention to various pending demands, such as reinstating the old pension scheme for teachers and non-teaching staff, cancelling the Shikshan Sevak scheme and implementing a regular pay scale, and starting the recruitment process for non-teaching staff immediately. Teachers, non-teaching staff organisations, and institution management organisations are participating in this agitation. However, some organisations have not supported the agitation.
Against this backdrop, Maharashtra State Educational Institutions Corporation’s President, Ravindra Fadnavis, said, “All types of schools, including aided, unaided, and local government schools, will remain closed. The government's policies are detrimental to the education sector. Due to the rules of consensus, students in villages will not get teachers. These students will suffer academic losses.”
“The government's policy mainly affects Marathi medium schools. The government gives the reason that the cost is not affordable. However, if these policies are not opposed now, Marathi schools and the education sector will be destroyed. Therefore, if a solution is not found even after the school closure agitation, a more intense agitation will be launched,” he added.
Meanwhile, in the backdrop of the school closure agitation, the Director of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Dr Mahesh Palkar, has issued a circular to the Deputy Director of Education, Educational Officers, and Education Inspectors in the state. Accordingly, it has been observed from newspaper reports that the principals, teachers, and non-teaching staff of private aided, partially aided, and unaided schools in the state will participate in the school closure agitation on December 5 for various demands.
“Acknowledging the interests of students, it should be ensured that no school remains closed on December 5. Action should be taken to deduct one day’s salary of the principal, teachers and non-teaching staff of the schools that remain closed, and the matter should be brought to the notice of the schools,” has been clarified through the circular.
