Vocational teachers press for regular job, hold march in Panchkula

Panchkula, June 24

Vocational teachers in the state who have been demanding regular jobs for several years held a protest march outside the Directorate of School Education at Sector 5 today. Over 500 teachers participated in the protest.

The protestors who were supposed to gather at the Sector 5 protest grounds said they were prevented from reaching the site. They said they had given a call to ‘gherao’ the CM’s residence in the city; however, the police detained their union president, Anoop Dhillon, and several other members from Gurdwara Nadda Sahib early this morning. They said many members who were on their way to the ground were forcefully taken and dropped off at far-off locations.

Importantly, the vocational teachers teach 18 skill subjects, including tourism, IT, security, physical education, media, fashion, electricians, and others, to students in classes 9 to 12. They are paid nearly Rs 33,000 per month. On Monday, the teachers brought their children along with them to the protest site.

A member of the union, Sunil Mor, a resident of Karnal who had come here for the protest, said, “The state government had hired us as vocational teachers as per the same criteria as was applicable for 157 government teachers who are enrolled under the Education Department. They are paid nearly Rs 57,000 every month; however, the government later hired 2,013 vocation teachers on a contractual basis under various companies. The contracts of companies have come to an end; however, we have not been enrolled under the Education Department. There is a major disparity in our salaries. We are functioning under the Haryana Kushal Rojgar Nigam (HKRN) and are paid Rs 33,000 per month.”

The vocational teachers blocked the entry and exit of the Siksha Sadan, demanding pay parity and regularisation of jobs, for nearly three hours, after which they were summoned for a meeting with officials. They said they would resume their plans for a protest march towards the residence of the Chief Minister in the city on Wednesday in case their demands are not fulfilled.

Later, some members of the union held a meeting with government officers at the office of the Education Department.