Government school teachers staged a protest rally in Mohali, on Monday, pressing a range of demands related to service conditions, education policy and school infrastructure. The protest was held under the banner of Government Teachers Union, led by state president Sukhwinder Singh Chahal and general secretary Gurbinder Singh Saskaur.
According to protesting teachers, they attempted to march towards the Punjab Chief Minister’s residence in Chandigarh. However, police stopped the march at barricades, leading to a brief road blockade and slogan shouting by the protesters.
The union alleged that no government official initially came to receive their memorandum. Later, the administration informed them in writing that a panel meeting with the Education Department would be held on June 9, followed by a meeting with a Cabinet Subcommittee on June 23. Following this assurance, the protest was withdrawn.
During the protest, union leaders accused the government of weakening the public education system and criticised the implementation of the National Education Policy, claiming it has led to staffing shortages in schools. They also opposed the proposed delinking of dearness allowance from central government rates.
Teachers expressed concern over repeated allegations of paper leaks in recruitment and examinations, saying such incidents were harming students’ future and public trust in the examination system. They also demanded timely release of pending pay arrears, implementation of Dearness Allowance instalments, and correction of pay anomalies.
A major demand of the union was the revival of the Old Pension Scheme and the regularisation of contract based teachers, computer teachers and outsourced staff. The union also demanded that teachers be exempted from non-teaching duties such as census work, election duties, and other administrative assignments.
Other demands included filling long-pending promotional posts across cadres, creating new teaching posts based on student strength, restoring abolished allowances and improving working conditions in government schools.
