Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday urged students not to protest over the transfer of higher secondary teachers even as he assured that contractual teachers that they would not be removed from service. He said contractual teachers would return once the department completed its streamlining process.Last week, govt replaced contractual teachers in higher secondary schools with promoted teachers.On Friday, students across Goa protested the sudden transfer and replacement of lecture-basis teachers. Some boycotted classes at govt higher secondary schools in Sanguem, Pernem, and Valpoi, demanding continuity of teaching ahead of the Oct examinations.Reacting to the protests, Sawant said he felt awkward seeing higher secondary students standing on the roads and asked, “Who have we removed from service?” Speaking on Teachers’ Day, he said, “I want to tell teachers that any higher secondary teachers who have completed three years of service as contract teachers or on a lecture basis have not been removed from service, and we will not remove them.”Sawant said teacher promotions had been stuck for the past 20 years and that govt was now trying to fast-track them. He added that it was the responsibility of govt and the department to post promoted teachers according to available positions; otherwise, they would not receive their salaries, which is why they had to join duty.He also said that streamlining required cooperation from teachers and that he had instructed SCERT and the director of education to ensure that these teachers are appointed to the same higher secondary schools, but only after the streamlining process is completed. Until then, he said, teachers would have to wait for some time and would soon be accommodated.“There is no need for students to strike. In our state, strikes do not resolve issues; issues are resolved through discussion,” Sawant said, adding that students could take up concerns with the director of education.Sawant also spoke about an initiative he launched, called ‘Majhi Lab, Bari Lab’, saying that computers provided to schools often go unused because there is nobody to teach students. He said the labs are now being used after robotics and coding education was introduced.
