Unaided Teachers Back on Picket Line
Patna: April 2, 2008
Two days after the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, amidst cheers from politicians from both sides of the aisle, announced the end of the antiquated policy concerning un-aided teachers in the state, the euphoria came to a grinding halt on Wednesday when the same teachers who were celebrating their last Monday victory, took to the street saying the new policy left much to be desired and did not do much to improve their conditions.
Hundreds of the so-called un-aided teachers on Wednesday blocked the road at R-Block in Patna after the security officials chased them away from the State Assembly that they had planned to ambush.
When their attempts to break the iron gate of the Assembly campus was met with fierce resistance by the security guards on duty, the protestors clashed with the police leading the administration to summon extra force to deal with any contingency.
Calling the new policy 'a total fraud', the protestors condemned the Chief Minister and burnt the Janata Dal (U) election manifesto saying the new policy helped the school management in big way but did nothing to the hundreds of thousands of teachers who were 'on the frontline' on a daily basis.
As reported earlier, the Nitish government last Monday abandoned unaided education policy of the previous governments and announced financial grants for unaided schools and colleges making it possible for hundreds of thousands of unpaid teachers to start drawing grants between Rs. 2,000 to 5,000 for each successful student.
The announcement made in the state Assembly was greeted by both ruling and opposition party members who said the move was past due and was poised to bring positive changes in the state's education system.
The new policy went into effect April 1.
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