
‘AAP govt's education revolution is hollow': Teachers' body protests in Mohali, reiterates regularisation demand
2
Chandigarh: The Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF) protested in Mohali on Tuesday, expressing dissatisfaction with Punjab govt for not honouring its commitments to them.
Hundreds of teachers joined the protest at Gurdwara Amb Sahib, calling govt's proclaimed educational revolution "hollow".
During the stir, DTF functionaries said they delivered a notice to the education minister and secretary, outlining their demands.
They warned of a larger state-level rally scheduled on Teacher's Day in Sept if their concerns were not addressed.
The director of school education met DTF leaders, promising to address their issues and provide a comprehensive report after a meeting with the education secretary on Aug 21.
DTF state president Vikram Dev Singh and other union leaders highlighted unfulfilled promises. These included the reinstatement of sacked teachers Ravinder Kamboj and Narinder Bhandari, the regularisation of services for open and distance learning (ODL) teachers, and securing future employment for 300 teachers who were excluded from recruitment lists. They expressed concern over unpaid salaries and benefits for ODL teachers, the regularisation of computer faculty and temporary staff, and the lack of progress in promotions across various teaching cadres.
Despite assurances from the govt to complete all promotions by July 31, the leaders deemed these commitments unfulfilled. They announced plans for district-level meetings from Aug 11 to 13 and block-level meetings from Aug 18 to 20 to strategise for the upcoming Teacher's Day protest.
During the protest, speeches were delivered by Democratic Employees Federation's state president Jarman Jeet Singh, DTF state vice-president Gurpiyar Kotli, and many others.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Hindustan Times
5 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Mission Samarth 3.0: Ludhiana teachers allege initiative disrupts academic calendar, DEO refutes
As the Punjab government is set to begin the endline testing of Mission Samarth 3.0, an initiative which is hailed by the government as a step towards quality education, many teachers alleged that the mission disrupts academic calendar and puts teachers and students under unwanted pressure, affecting quality education. Teachers argue that the programme keeps students' away from their main curriculum for the first six months of the session. (HT File) Mission Samarth is a flagship programme by the state government designed to improve academic standards in government schools and strengthen the basics of students from Class 3 to 8. The mission groups students according to their learning levels during the first half of their session and focuses on targeted teaching in Punjabi, Mathematics and English, with updated study material and special emphasis on writing skills, mathematical ability and English comprehension. Teachers argue that the programme disrupts the academic calendar by keeping students away from their main curriculum for the first six months of the year. Due to which, teachers alleged that they are forced to complete the whole syllabus in the remaining half session, a period often marked by festive breaks, low attendance and unfinished lessons. 'During the last six months of their session, many students travel to their native places and miss classes. Attendance is also affected by forced enrolments, with migrant students being admitted but never attending the classes,' said Daljit Singh Samrala, district president of the Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF). He added that teachers are themselves 'samarth' in assessing and addressing learning levels without the need of such a mission. Another middle school teacher, requesting anonymity, pointed out that most schools suffer from staff shortages, making it nearly impossible to complete the syllabus in just six months. 'The syllabus left out due to 'Mission Samrath' gets added to the rest of the year's workload, putting both teachers and students under pressure,' the teacher said. Defending the initiative, district education officer (elementary) Ravinder Kaur said she has personally visited schools and found significant improvement in students' learning. 'If students' basics are polished, they will cope with the syllabus as well. Teachers are expected to manage the balance,' she said. As the endline testing is yet to begin, the mission continues to draw mixed reactions, praised for its focus on foundational skills but questioned for the strain it places on the regular curriculum.


Indian Express
06-08-2025
- Indian Express
Teachers' unions slam AAP govt after cops enter Bathinda classroom to detain teacher
Teachers' unions in Punjab Wednesday slammed the AAP government for a bringing 'so-called Sikhya Kranti' (education revolution), two days after a team of three policemen entered a pre-primary classroom in Bathinda to stop a teacher from reaching a protest site. The photographs of policemen sitting inside the classroom, as teacher Veerpal Kaur Sidhana taught the children, went viral on social media triggered massive outrage on what effect this police action might have caused on small children. Sidhana, who is the president of pre-primary teachers union, had said that she had no plans to participate in any protest Monday, and even then policemen stayed inside her classroom for nearly six hours until 2 pm. Detaining a woman teacher in school is the most shameful act of the AAP government, said the Democratic Teacher Front (DTF) in a statement, Wednesday. 'The reality is that they are making Punjab a police state and their so-called claims of bringing Sikhya Kranti (education revolution) have been exposed. Instead of regularising the teachers under the civil service rules, the police are beating them with batons,' said the DTF statement. DTF state president Vikram Dev said, 'Not only the teacher was kept in detention at her school for six hours, the police even reached her maternal grandparents' house where she lived a few years ago. The police accompanied her from her house to the school and were present in the school for the whole day. The AAP government is gradually moving towards creating a police state.' 'Had the Punjab government regularized the contractual teachers and kept its promise, then today there would have been no need to detain them. But the AAP government has run away from all its promises made before the 2022 Punjab assembly polls. Advertisements worth crores of rupees were put up all over Punjab under the false propaganda of making the contractual teachers permanent, but till date not a single teacher has been regularized. On the contrary, the government is now intimidating those employees who are agitating for their rights,' said Dev. DTF teacher union leader Malkit Singh Haraj said that on one hand the Punjab government was continuously shouting the slogan of 'Education Revolution' in Punjab, on the other hand, teachers were being detained by sending police to schools and police terror was being imposed on children. The leaders of the organization warned that instead of terrorizing teachers, the government should regularize them, otherwise the struggle will be intensified.


Time of India
05-08-2025
- Time of India
‘AAP govt's education revolution is hollow': Teachers' body protests in Mohali, reiterates regularisation demand
1 2 Chandigarh: The Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF) protested in Mohali on Tuesday, expressing dissatisfaction with Punjab govt for not honouring its commitments to them. Hundreds of teachers joined the protest at Gurdwara Amb Sahib, calling govt's proclaimed educational revolution "hollow". During the stir, DTF functionaries said they delivered a notice to the education minister and secretary, outlining their demands. They warned of a larger state-level rally scheduled on Teacher's Day in Sept if their concerns were not addressed. The director of school education met DTF leaders, promising to address their issues and provide a comprehensive report after a meeting with the education secretary on Aug 21. DTF state president Vikram Dev Singh and other union leaders highlighted unfulfilled promises. These included the reinstatement of sacked teachers Ravinder Kamboj and Narinder Bhandari, the regularisation of services for open and distance learning (ODL) teachers, and securing future employment for 300 teachers who were excluded from recruitment lists. They expressed concern over unpaid salaries and benefits for ODL teachers, the regularisation of computer faculty and temporary staff, and the lack of progress in promotions across various teaching cadres. Despite assurances from the govt to complete all promotions by July 31, the leaders deemed these commitments unfulfilled. They announced plans for district-level meetings from Aug 11 to 13 and block-level meetings from Aug 18 to 20 to strategise for the upcoming Teacher's Day protest. During the protest, speeches were delivered by Democratic Employees Federation's state president Jarman Jeet Singh, DTF state vice-president Gurpiyar Kotli, and many others.