The state government teachers are furious with the directorate of school education, Kashmir, for “trying to curb” them their unionism through which they “seek and fight for rights and demands”.
Coming out in open against the director school education Shah Faesal, the teachers, led by Jammu and Kashmir Teachers Forum president, Abdul Qayoom Wani, said that the director was “playing with fire”.
“Shah Faesal cannot act as a dictator. He cannot stop our unionism as we are fighting for our rights and trying to correct the education system in the schools. He is playing with fire,” Wani said in a press conference here.
The angry Wani was reacting to the order of the DSEK order which had asked for strict action against teachers and their associations for using offices and schools for their union activities during duty hours.
The director has in its order asked that the sacred profession of teaching can’t be hijacked by elements which take salary for teaching and instead avoid duties on the pretext of trade unionism.
“It is hereby reiterated that all members and office-bearers including the Chairmen of Teacher associations /forums are subjected to same disciplinary control, CSR and Conduct Rules as any other Government Employee,” the DSEK order says, adding that special exemptions from teaching duties have been given to them except if they chose to remain absent under leave duly sanctioned.
Wani said that the about 1, 50000 teachers have been rendering their service for the thousands of students in the state. “We are educating and students and treat all students as our own sons. But from the past many months, Director Shah Faesal and former minister Naeem Akhtar are maligning our fraternity and defaming us publicly,” he said.
The teachers said that the director should name a single member of the forum who has been absent from his duties, and has not been attending to the school.
“We ask the director to name a single teacher who has not attended to his duties,” Wani said.
Wani also talked about other issues that the teachers are confronting in the department “because of the more loyal than king” attitude of the DSEK.
The teachers said that they will protest on January 30 infront of the DSEK office in Srinagar against all the “anti-teacher policies” of the government.
“All the orders should be rescinded by the directorate that were issued in the last many months as these orders are against the working of the teachers.”
The teachers said that they are ready to cooperate with the court directions of verifying academic qualification of those ReTs who have obtained degrees from “dubious” institutions.
From the last many months, the education department has issued several orders for the teachers and for the department’s functioning, which has pitted teachers against their own department heads. (KNS)