Students to surrender textbooks
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, November 26 2010:
With the teachers' cease work campaign expanding so also has expanded the students' pressure to the government as well as teachers to end the impasse.
Teachers of government educational institutions under the banner of the Council of Teachers' Association (COTA) have been on a cease work strike from November 15 keeping students out of classes for the last 11 days.
While no classes were taken in most of the government run high and higher secondary schools, COTA's campaign reached Jiribam today with all government educational institutions in the sub-division of Imphal east district suspending classes to show solidarity to COTA's demands.
COTA is demanding implementation of the revised sixth pay bands of the central government in toto.
This had already been adopted by the state.
On the other hand, students of various schools in Imphal today staging sit-in protests in their respective school premises threatened they are planning to surrender their text books to the government if no steps to resume normal classes are being taken up by the authority of the government immediately.
One such sit-in protest was staged at Lamlong Higher Secondary School.
General secretary of the students' union, Saikhom Shantibala, talking to reporters, said that due to the cease work strike of the teachers, they have been kept out of class since November 15 .
This is not fair when students are being made victims of an impasse between teachers and government on the matter of salaries.
The impasse has pushed the students on the verge of spoiling their careers, she said.
Students of the state are not able to attend classes upto the minimum required days due to the frequent bandhs and strikes.
With the annual exams knocking on the door and the students are yet to keep up with the syllabi, they are against postponement of classes again.
This is not fair, Shantibala lamented.
The most unhappy thing is that when students of Class-X and XII need to consult with the teachers to study and to cover their syllabi, teachers have in token attended schools but have remained silent sitting in their rooms.
This has hurt the sentiment of the students, she added.
In an effort to end the cease work strike to resume normal classes from November 30, they the students will surrender their text books to the government.
Students will also intensify their protests, the general secretary warned.