Chandigarh: Teachers’ organisations from Punjab and Haryana have decided to step up their agitation over several key issues, including the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET), education policy framework and demand for restoration of the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), by launching a joint movement.Two major bodies — the Democratic Teachers Front and Democratic School Teachers Association — held a joint meeting in Chandigarh and resolved to strengthen collective action on issues affecting school teachers in both states. The meeting was jointly presided over by Vikram Dev Singh and Vijender Mor. Leaders from both organisations attended the meeting. During deliberations, participants held detailed discussions on challenges faced by teachers under the current policy regime. It was unanimously decided to intensify the joint struggle against what the organisations described as the “forcibly imposed” TET examination, opposition to the existing education policy framework and the demand for restoration of OPS. The leaders agreed that a united platform was necessary to effectively raise these concerns in the prevailing policy environment.The organisations also decided to expand the movement by reaching out to teachers’ bodies in other states. As a first step in this direction, a joint convention of the two organisations will be organised in Chandigarh on May 24, 2026.Mukesh Kumar and Sunil Yadav said a detailed memorandum listing the organisations’ demands would be submitted during the convention. The memorandum will be routed through the Chandigarh administration and addressed to the Prime Minister as well as chief ministers of Punjab and Haryana.Among the key demands raised by the organisations is scrapping of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which they alleged, was implemented without adequate consultation with states. They also demanded withdrawal of recent changes introduced in the school syllabus, terming them “illogical and unscientific”.The leaders further alleged that the BJP-led central government was promoting centralisation and privatisation in the education sector. They claimed that the AAP govt in Punjab and BJP govt in Haryana were following similar policy directions in this regard.Other demands highlighted by Dharminder Dhanda, Gurpiar Kotli and Rajiv Kumar Barnala include filing review petitions to scrap the Teacher Eligibility Test, amending the Right to Education Act, 2009 to ensure service security and seniority-based promotions, shifting education from the concurrent list to the state list, scrapping the National Pension System and Unified Pension System, and restoring the old GPF-based pension scheme.MSID:: 129847443 413 |
