Students of Valpoi Government Higher Secondary School staging a protest outside their classrooms.
SANGUEM/VALPOI/PERNEM
Hundreds of students from the Government Higher Secondary Schools (HSS) at Sanguem and Valpoi boycotted classes on Friday while students from the Pernem HSS continued their protest for the second day, to oppose the Education department’s decision to transfer teachers from their schools.
Sanguem
Around 300 students of Government Higher Secondary School, Sanguem boycotted classes and staged a protest march from the school to the Sanguem bus stand, raising slogans and staging a sit-in at the bus stand, demanding that their existing teachers be allowed to continue until the examinations are completed.
Speaking on behalf of students, Sonali Zore said the students had already developed an understanding with their existing teachers and were comfortable with their teaching methods. She expressed concern that the newly appointed teachers would require time to understand the students and syllabus, which could affect their examination preparation. A student Siya Valshekar questioned the timing of the transfers and termed the policy unfair to both students and teachers.
According to students and teachers, most teachers at the Sanguem HSS, barring one or two, had been working on a lecture-basis arrangement. Despite this, the school had maintained a 100 per cent Class XII pass percentage.
Teachers working on a lecture-basis arrangement said they had no objection to high school teachers being promoted. However, they questioned what would happen to those who had spent a decade or more teaching higher secondary students.On learning of the student protest, Social Welfare Minister and Sanguem MLA Subhash Phal Dessai rushed to the HSS and met the students. Phal Dessai then contacted the Director of Education and urged authorities to find an appropriate solution without causing injustice to teachers working on a lecture-basis arrangement. He was reportedly informed that the affected teachers would be accommodated under the Samagra Shiksha programme. However, the proposal has raised concerns among the teachers as the remuneration under Samagra Shiksha is reportedly considerably lower than what they were receiving under the lecture-basis arrangement.
Valpoi
Students of Valpoi Government Higher Secondary School boycotted classes on Friday in protest, alleging that the sudden removal of teachers who had been working on a lecture-hour basis and their replacement with new teachers is affecting their academic progress.The students refused to attend classes from 8 am to 2 pm, demanding that the authorities address their concerns.With examinations approaching, the students said that the sudden change in teachers was disrupting continuity in teaching and could affect completion of the syllabus, revision and examination preparation. The students also alleged that the new teachers were unable to teach them as effectively as expected. The students held discussions with school principal Laxmi Sukhtankar regarding the issue. The principal reportedly informed them that details of the students’ protest and demands had been communicated to senior officials. She also said that the Education department had been contacted and requested to find a positive solution to the issue at the earliest.
The principal attempted to persuade the students to withdraw their agitation. However, the students remained dissatisfied and refused to call off the protest.
It was also stated that the principal had contacted the director of education and conveyed the students’ demands, requesting immediate intervention. However, the students claimed that no concrete decision had been taken by afternoon on the day of the protest.
Pernem
Even as students of the Government Higher Secondary School, Pernem, continued to boycott classes for the second day to demand the reinstatement of four teachers transferred from their school, Pernem MLA Pravin Arlekar said all four teachers of the Pernem HSS would rejoin service.
Stating that the issue had been resolved, Arlekar said he interacted with Chief Minister and Education Minister Pramod Sawant, an assurance has been given that all four teachers will be allowed to rejoin the school from tomorrow. Arlekar met the Director of Education Shailesh Zingde along with the teachers concerned, where the issue regarding the teachers’ service and the situation arising from the students’ protest was discussed.
According to Arlekar, the chief minister took cognisance of the issue and assured that all four teachers would be allowed to rejoin the Government HSS at Pernem. Arlekar thanked Sawant for taking a prompt and positive decision to prevent further academic loss to the students. Arlekar also accused certain opposition leaders of bringing students onto the streets, causing disruption to their education and then trying to derive political mileage from the situation. “The matter could have been resolved through dialogue by approaching the Education department, meeting the chief minister who is also the education minister, or contacting me as the local MLA,” said Arlekar.
