PONDA: As threatened three days ago, the agitated students and the parents of Dhavshirem Government Primary School at Usgao on Tuesday marched to the office of the Assistant District Education Inspector (ADEI) at Ponda and confronted him for not posting adequate number of teachers at the school.
The morcha follows three days of boycott of classes by the students demanding immediate posting of adequate number of teachers at the school. When the students and parents launched their boycott on Saturday, they threatened to march to the ADEI office and confront him, if adequate number of teachers were not posted at the school by Monday.
The school PTA Chairman Ulhas Satarkar had warned on Saturday that if the Education Department failed to fill the two vacancies, then the parents and students would confront the ADEI at Ponda on Tuesday to press for their demand of permanent teachers.
When the protesters reached the outskirts of Ponda, it began raining heavily. However, undeterred by the rains, the protestors kept marching by holding placards and shouting slogans “We want permanent teachers.”
On reaching the ADEI office, a delegation of PTA went inside confronted and ADEI Ashok Desai, while the students stood outside shouting slogans for over an hour, which took the Ponda residents by surprise.
Satarkar, who led the march, questioned ADEI Ashok Desai why the teachers were frequently transferred from Dhavshirem school, when they have been agitating for the last three years for better facilities and permanent teachers.
The agitated parents demanded action against female teachers who get transfers using political influence; and they wondered whether the female teachers were running the Education Department. The parents demanded that school be operated in morning session as the female teachers were not interested in evening session stating they reach home late.
After an hour long confrontation, ADEI Desai informed that a teacher has already been appointed on Monday and another teacher Roshani Naik from Gauri Mhol Primary School at Tiswadi has been transferred to Dhavshirem School; that she would join duty from Wednesday.
However, the protestors were pacified only after the ADEI gave in writing that he would appoint the teachers permanently and would not transfer them during the academic year 2018-19. On exacting the written assurance, the protestors called off the boycott of classes. The students will now attend the classes from Wednesday.
