SHILLONG, SEPT 3: College and school teachers under the banner of Joint Action Committee of All Teacher Associations of Meghalaya (JACATAM) took ‘mass casual leave’ on Tuesday continuing their agitation for fulfillment of their demands placed with the state government.
The mass casual leave affected over 4047 ad hoc and deficit schools from the eleven districts of Meghalaya.
As both the state government and the teachers are on loggerhead over the latter demands the students are the one who is being sandwiched between the fight.
“The adamant attitude of the state government has compelled the teachers to take such steps,” JACATAM chairman ED Nongsiang justified the teachers’ agitation. He informed that teachers from across the state took mass casual leave to express their resentment on the government refusal to invite them for talks over their demands.
According to Nongsiang over 14,000 teachers right from primary level to college level are participating in the ongoing protests.
Refusing to invite the teachers for dialogue over their demands, the state government however issued a press communiqué requesting them to refrain from any action and assured that it would examine only those demands which are considered ‘reasonable’.
Nongsiang said, “We have decided to take forward our agitational programmes, since the government has failed to comply with our demands as we are not willing to accept the government request through the media as no official letter has been given to the teachers body till today.
The teachers are demanding that dialogue if initiated should be ‘unconditional’.
Tuesday’s agitation will be followed by sit-in-demonstrations (dharnas) in 23 zones in the eleven districts of the state on September 4 besides boycotting the Teacher’s Day celebrations in the state by holding a protest rally to be held at Malki ground on September 5. –By Our Reporter
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