- Sujal Pradhan, NET Correspondent, Sikkim
Sikkim Progressive Youth Forum (SPYF) raised four major ongoing issues of the state, alleging that they are endangering the educational sector.
Shanker Sharma, Central Executive Member of SPYF, first shared that schools are re-opening but there are no teachers, and he questioned why the government is delaying teacher recruitment.
He also stated that the quality of education is deteriorating and that the pandemic has worsened, but that there are no teachers in schools, which is an immediate concern that the government should address. Sharma also said that the State government cannot make “lame excuses” for the inordinate delay in appointing teachers which, the forum said, is compromising the Sikkim students’ future.
“To say pandemic and festive season created hurdles in conducting interviews for teachers in government schools is a lame excuse by the State government. We recall the government saying that after the festive season in October last year, they will go ahead with the interview process every day barring Sundays. Yet, it is evident the government still has not completed the interview process and has not declared the results. The government cannot make excuses on matters related to student’s future and education,” – said SPYF members at a press meet here.
SPYF members Sagar Sharma, Sankar Sharma, Rupen Karki and Lekhak Sharma were addressing the media at the Journalists Union of Sikkim office.
“We have been talking about the shortage of teachers for a long time and communicated with the State government three times last year. Schools have reopened but still, teachers are yet to be appointed. Last October, the government made a big announcement about completing the interview and appointment process in two months. We are now in the second week of February, but the results of teacher interviews have yet to be announced, and students are attending classes with no teachers.”
Given the current rate of inflation, its high time for the government to revise the minimum wage. The old-age wages act is still in effect, and because of the pandemic’s high inflation, taxi fares have also increased dramatically, so the government must revise the Minimum Wage Act. Sikkim’s wage act from 2017 is still in effect, informed Sharma.
While Rupen Karki General Secretary of Sikkim Progressive Youth Forum said “despite the fact that forest laws are in place, the crushing machine is in the river and altering the river’s course. Many cases of illegal quarrying have been reported in recent times, as there are Forest Acts, but numerous cases of illegal quarrying are still being reported, so it must be stopped. There have been numerous incidents of tree-felling, but there has been no transparency, and the government should issue a whitepaper in this regard as well.”
Lekhak Sharma also raised the issue of public transportation, stating that there is no public transportation throughout the state, and that common people are once again suffering with taxi fares nearly doubling in all places. In regard to the same, state government should deploy more buses in villages.
