JOIN USCollege and university teachers from all over the country will ‘March to Parliament’ on August 26, under the aegis of All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisation (AIFUCTO), pressing for their demands.
AIFUCTO during the march will demand extension of old age pension scheme to college/university teachers who joined the teaching profession before 2004 and release of UGC pay-scale arrears. The teachers will also oppose the proposed reforms in education sector.
AIFUCTO President A James William addressing the convention on higher education here on Sunday said that there are questions being raised from various quarters with regard to the UGC revised pay scales. The teaching professionals do not owe an explanation for this. However, there are large numbers of teachers who are yet to reap benefits of this hike as they have not received arrears for the same. “The central government employees have been given arrears but the teachers have not yet been given arrears,” he said.
With regard to implementation of Right to Education, James said that it is the duty of the Government to ensure quality education to all but there is dearth of funds to implement this crucial Act. The Government is citing financial crunch as one of the reasons why it has not filled vacant posts in education sector.
“This negligent attitude of the Government is affected higher education. Further there is a myth that Government run centers of higher education are of low standards when compared to that run by private institutes. This is preventing students from joining government institutes of higher education,” he said.
AIFUCTO General Secretary Prof Ashok Kumar Barman said that UGC pay scale was introduced for the first time in 1983. There is a rule that the pay must be revised once in 10 years, which was not done. The teachers had to go for month long protests in 1986 and 1998 after which the revision was done. “Now the revision period has crossed and I think it is time for another struggle,” said Barman.
MLC Ganesh Karnik presiding over the programme said that state Government has increased funding for primary and higher education from Rs 3,650 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 12,284 crore in 2010-11.
This shows the concern the Government has for higher education.