Aided school teachers protest in Chandigarh

As many as 3,000 teachers of aided schools of Punjab, after taking mass casual leave today, held a protest rally here, demanding their institutions be merged with government schools.
"Punjab government is meting out step motherly treatment with aided schools as our salaries being delayed and no new recruitment is being done, thus making difficult to run a school," Union state President of Aided Schools (Punjab), G S Chahal said here today.
"Our main demand is that aided schools should be merged with government schools," he said.
He pointed out that with the merger of aided schools with government schools, the problem of acute shortage of teachers would also be solved.

"We have experienced teachers who can easily be accommodated and perform well in government schools," he said.
Moreover, Chahal further said, "the state government will also benefit with the merger as our provident fund to the tune of Rs 250 crore will go to state kitty."

He further said Haryana government has already merged aided schools with state government schools.
There are 484 aided schools in Punjab, employing over 4,000 teachers and principals. State government gives 95 per cent grant to these schools.
Observing that there was no future for teachers in these schools, protesters said that the state government had allegedly ignored students of government aided schools while giving scholarships under Hargobind Khurana scholarship scheme and bicyles to girls students under Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme.

He claimed that the protesters had not been paid their salaries since September while some teachers of primary schools had been waiting for salaries for last one year.
Chahal said that state authorities have assured them of an opportunity to meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on January 8 to discuss the issue.