GUWAHATI, July 9 � The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) today demanded that the Government should not be discriminatory in dealing with the teachers. While welcoming the proposed reforms being initiated in the education sector by the State Government, it said that the reforms should be holistic covering all aspects of the sector.
Party vice-president and former MP Dr Arun Sarma said here today that the AGP is ready to cooperate with the Government in matters of initiating the reforms in the education sector. He reminded that the AGP has been calling for such reforms for quite a long time.
The governing bodies of the educational institutions should not include any political person and the selection process of the teachers should be independent and totally free from political interference, he said.
The national political parties should exempt the educational institutions of Assam being politicalised by their students� wings. These parties should also disband their teachers� cells. Teachers indulging in politics at the cost of their teaching assignments should be dealt with firmly according to the legal provisions, said the AGP vice president.
He also demanded that the educational institutions should not be used as the camps of the security personnel, as strong room to store voting machines or as relief camps to shelter the victims of natural disasters.
Likewise, the teachers of the educational institutions should also be exempted from duties of the Census operations, electoral rolls preparation exercises and the like activities which keep them away from teaching activities for a long period.
Dr Sarma also clarified that he has not been availing of the pension benefits for his tenure as an MP and he is now drawing salaries only as the teacher of the Assam Agricultural University. He dared his detractors to prove otherwise.
