West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee Wednesday expressed dismay over a primary teachers' association holding a protest rally on a working day and said primary teachers should not participate in such activities abstaining from classes.
Asked by reporters about the procession by Usthi United Primary Teachers' Welfare Association here during the day, Chatterjee asked, "Why did members of the primary teachers' body take out a rally on a week day disrupting classes?"
He said the education department will take up the issue with the teachers concerned at individual level.
"We won't take any punitive action but we will explain that you cannot do this neglecting your work and making the students suffer," Chatterjee said.
The minister said the government will consider sympathetically the economic issues of teachers but they must perform their duties in the first place.
"We are of the view that following rules and discipline are of paramount importance to every teacher," the minister added.
Chatterjee also criticised the Left leaders for attending the rally of the primary teachers to "instigate" them despite knowing that the deprivation of primary teachers had been far more acute during their tenure.
The Usthi United Primary Teachers' Welfare Association held a meeting in Maulali area of the city Wednesday alleging the state government was doing little to address their economic issues.
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