Hoshiarpur- An important meeting of principals and representatives of government aided schools was held at S.D. Senior Secondary School, Hoshiarpur, in which the deep crisis in aided educational institutions across Punjab was discussed. The meeting pointed out that teachers are facing huge financial difficulties due to non-release of salary grant for the last six months.
The speakers in the meeting strongly urged the Punjab government to immediately release the pending salary grant. They said that hundreds of teachers and families of employees are struggling to survive. Many teachers are unable to meet household expenses, children’s education and medical expenses.
The meeting also reiterated that the staff of aided schools should be merged with government schools, which was part of the election manifesto of the Aam Aadmi Party government. The principals reminded the government of its commitment and said that implementing this demand would bring stability and dignity in the lives of the teaching profession.
Those who shared their views in the meeting included Principals Puneet Kumar, Poonam Sharma, Seema Sharma, Balkar Singh, Neeraj Ghai, Anil Handa, Archana Walia, Sonila Rajput, Rajneesh Kaur, Sunil Dutt, Rajesh Gupta, Brij Mani Mahesh, Arun Kumar, Rajesh Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar.
At the end of the meeting, it was decided that the memorandum regarding the demands of the teachers would be submitted to the Education Secretary, Punjab through Assistant Commissioner Hoshiarpur Oishi IAS. It was also decided that if the government did not take timely action, the aided schools would intensify their struggle, which would include state-level protests and contact with higher authorities.
The principals and teachers made it clear that this demand is not only related to their lives but also to the future of quality education in Punjab. Aided schools have historically been an important part of Punjab’s education and cultural heritage.