Thousands of permanent government school teachers in Bihar went on an indefinite strike from May 4 in support of the over 3.5 lakh contractual school teachers, locally known as fixed pay teachers, who are already on strike.
Over 2.8 crore students in government-run schools in Bihar have been affected by the strike resulting in the indeterminate closure of nearly 77,000 schools.
“After permanent teachers began their indefinite strike in support of the contractual school teachers’ strike, millions of children have been deprived of schooling,” an official of the education department said on Wednesday.
Contractual teachers of around 72,000 primary and middle schools went on strike in April this year, demanding pay at par with regular teachers and better working conditions in schools.
The striking contractual teachers had already locked down hundreds of schools across the state and in effect deprived the children, mostly from lower economic backgrounds, of their education, the official added.
“Study after study has pointed that affluent people sent their children to private schools and that the majority of the government-run schools provide access to education to the poorest in society,” the official added.
As an outcome of the strike, the new academic session in government schools, which starts from April 1, has been delayed.
Last month the government of Bihar has constituted a committee under Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh to study the demands of the teachers. The government had asked the committee to give its report within a month.
According to sources in the government, contractual teachers may be offered a hike of Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 in their pay package.
The Patna high court has sought to know from the state government what steps it it had taken to resolve the issue.
