Teachers’ black arm band protest today

Nagpur: Many teachers’ associations have asked their members to wear black arm bands in classrooms on Teachers’ Day to register protest over various issues, which they claim have still not been resolved by the government.
At least eight teachers’ associations have issued a joint statement, under the banner of Shikshak Sanghatana Samanvay Samiti, saying two recent incidents have angered teachers more than ever. The coordination committee of all these associations has also written to chief minister Eknath Shinde apprising him of the decision to wear black arm bands.
Sharad Bhandarkar, state general secretary of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s Shikshak Shikshaketar Sena said, “In the last 10 days, we have had two incidents which demean our teachers. First was the state’s decision to put photos of teachers in every classroom. The real reason behind the decision is to humiliate teachers in front of students in case they are absent. But one should understand that teachers can be absent due to health reasons and also because of work allotted by other departments like conducting surveys etc.”
The teacher associations’ coordination committee, of which Bhandarkar is an office-bearer, says the second incident was a statement by MLA Prashant Bamb (Gangapur, Aurangabad). “The MLA said teachers fraudulently claim HRA. To make such sweeping statements about the entire teaching community is unfair,” said Bhandarkar.
TOI had reported a few days ago on how some teachers in Gadchiroli wore black arm bands to register their protests to both these incidents.
Vivek Ambekar, president of Maharashtra Rajya Shikshak Parishad (Chandrapur), said, “What Bamb said has hurt the entire teaching community badly. The honourable MLA himself went to school, and it is because of teachers that he received good education and now represents people. The statement of his to paint the entire teaching community as rogue is unacceptable.”
Bhandarkar said, “We have submitted a letter to Nagpur collector Vipin Itankar mentioning clearly our plan to protest in such a way.”
Both issues directly affect teachers in government school, where the protests are likely to be extremely vocal. Since government schoolteachers’ associations are well organized and many have political affiliations, diktats from union leaders are generally followed to the last man standing. Also, since it is much tougher to act against government teachers, because of the bureaucratic maze and support from teacher associations, many teachers freely participate in such public protests.