Special Correspondent
Pune : Maharashtra’s education system is headed for a massive jolt as teaching and non-teaching employees have called for a complete statewide school shutdown on 5 December. All primary and secondary schools have been urged to close for a one-day strike as teachers turn up the heat on the state government over a long list of unresolved demands.
Teachers’ unions have issued a formal strike notice and announced district-wise protest marches. In Pune, the rally will begin at the new Zilla Parishad building, marching straight to the collector’s office for a huge public gathering. Similar demonstrations are set to erupt across every district on the same day.
The biggest flashpoint is the state’s insistence that teachers appointed before 2013 must now clear the Teachers Eligibility Test (TET). Unions call the move illegal, unnecessary and an insult to experienced teachers who have already served for years.
The strike notice also demands the cancellation of the March 2024 government resolution on staffing-pattern approvals. According to unions, the new rules have created staffing shortages, delayed approvals and triggered chaos in schools.
Teachers want the old norms restored. Another major grievance is the continuation of the “Shikshan Sevak” system, under which newly appointed teachers work on fixed, meagre salaries for three years before being regularised. Unions call it exploitation in the name of education.
The state government has not yet issued a reaction, even as schools prepare for what could be one of the biggest coordinated protests in recent years.
No More Non-Teaching Work, No More Delays In Pay
Teachers are demanding:
* Uniform and timely pay scales
* End to all non-academic duties
* Ban on online administrative work dumped on teachers
* Proper staffing and approvals without red tape
Union leaders say they have waited years for action. “We’ve had enough of empty promises,” one senior leader said. “If the government keeps ignoring us, this agitation will not stop at one day.”
