Odisha Teachers Threaten to Shun Matric Tests

BHUBANESWAR: The  School Teachers’ Federation of Odisha (STFO) on  Tuesday threatened to boycott the Matriculation examinations   if the State Government did not address  their grievances by February 19. A team of the Association  met members of State Cabinet to discuss their longstanding  demands. However, the meeting proved to  be futile following which the teachers warned to boycott the examinations.  The Ministerial-level meeting  was held during the afternoon at the State Secretariat in which Ministers  Debi Mishra, Bikram Arukh and Atanu Sabyasachi  Nayak participated.

“There was no agreement on issues which have been  pending for a long time including full grant-in-aid for  teachers and staff of block grant schools,” a representative of STFO said. The  association also expressed  displeasure over the Government decision to regularise job after eight years  of service instead of six years. Earlier in the day, the block grant teachers resumed  their strike which blocked traffic at Station Square to PMG Square for  the entire day. Later, more than 50,000 teachers marched towards Sishu  Bhavan square to gherao Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s  residence.

The protestors were stopped by police near Bapuji Nagar where a faceoff between the two sides  occurred. Vehicular movement on Rajmahal square  to Sishu Bhavan square was disrupted for over five hours due to the agitation.