AGARTALA, Oct 30 - A large number of sacked government school teachers today began an agitation here, demanding continuation of their service.
�The teachers will observe a �lay-up� on duty on Thursday,� protest leader Bimal Saha told media persons after submitting a memorandum to the Education Director, detailing their demands. This means that the teachers will go to schools but not teach.
On March 29, 2017, the Supreme Court upheld a Tripura High Court verdict to terminate the services of 10,323 government teachers on grounds of �indiscretion� in selecting them during the former Left Front rule in secondary and higher secondary schools.
After the appeal, the apex court extended their services up to June this year.
�The BJP Government in June submitted a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court to extend the services for two more years,� Education and Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath told reporters.
If their services are not extended, lakhs of students will be deprived of getting proper education in 4,928 government schools,� he added.
Meanwhile, an official of the State�s Law Department said that Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi would preside over a three-judge bench on Thursday to hear the teachers� case.
The Education Minister said the Government had 12,222 vacant posts which could not be filled up as there was a huge shortage of qualified candidates with professional degrees. He said the State has only six BEd (Bachelor of Education) colleges to provide professional degrees and diploma to would-be teachers. � IANS
