Teachers stage dharna, hold meetings in Amritsar to show solidarity

Amritsar, May 2

Teachers in all non-government colleges on Tuesday observed an one-hour strike and held meetings to show solidarity with the managements of non-government colleges over the implementation of the centralised admission portal. The college units of the Punjab and Chandigarh College teachers’ Union (PCCTU) raised concerns over the collapse of the non-government colleges in the wake of this decision.

“The system in private colleges that are still awaiting grants will collapse due to this decision. The government needs to understand that admissions to private colleges in traditional courses are getting decreasing by the day as a majority of students are flying abroad after Class XII. On top of this, the university (GNDU) here offers undergraduate courses, integrated courses that eat out of the seats from private colleges. And then, with centralized admissions, the student’s intake in private colleges will further decrease. The financial sustainability of private colleges will be put under stress, further putting livelihood of teachers in danger,” shared Dr Gurdas Sekhon, general secretary, PCCTU.

He said the centralized admission system had earlier failed for BEd courses. “The government tried to implement the centralized admission in BEd courses, but it only works if the number of students is more and seats are limited. Here it’s opposite. Further, Panjab University’s Syndicate has also approved that they would not be following the centralized admission portal,” he said.

The exams are scheduled to begin for undergraduate and postgraduate courses from tomorrow (May 3). The teachers will be boycotting the exam duties on May 5 and further if the government chooses to ignore the issue.