Unemployed Teachers in Punjab Threaten Suicide
A Rally of Teachers in the Punjab
Unemployed graduates of the Elementary Teacher Training progamme in the Punjab, India have been involved in desparate protests
The teachers’ union had called for a strike on February 15th if baton charging police once again interrupted their protest rallies. The teachers are protesting because posts are not being filled even though the ruling party pledged in its election manifesto to take on 45,000 teachers. On February 27th 100 teachers staging a long-running hunger strike were arrested after three of their leaders threatened to burn themselves alive if their demands were not met. Two weeks previously another member of the unemployed teachers union aged 27 had set herself alight in protest at the government’s failure to employ teachers.Meanwhile several hunger strikers were forcibly admitted into hospital.
In 2008 there were mass protests in the Punjab by teachers’ unions against the privatisation of education in the state. Teachersolidarity would very much like to hear from teachers in the Punjab connected to this struggle and to understand the links between the failure to employ teachers and privatisation policies. Please email me at mary@teachersolidarity.com
March 03 2010 03:13 pm | General