DAV Public School at CDA in Cuttack. Telegraph picture

Cuttack, July 7: Classes in three out of the four DAV Public Schools in Cuttack have been suspended from today for an indefinite period following a “ceasework” by the teachers.

Over 200 teachers at DAV schools at CDA, Rajabagicha and Tulsipur have refrained from work demanding higher pay. Their action would affect nearly 8,000 students.

An official circular was issued by Himashu Kumar Mohanty, regional director of DAV institutions, today. The notification read: “There has been no revision in school fees since 2008-09 because of a verdict of the high court. Despite any non-revision in fees, the best interest of the staff has been kept in mind and periodic doses of relief within limited resources have been given.”

“The teachers and staff members of various schools have resorted to ceasework demanding implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission. Though we had made several appeals to the teachers not to resort to such acts, they refused to budge,” said Mohanty.

DAV school authorities said an emergency meeting was held yesterday and efforts were made by the managing committees to persuade the staff to resume duty, but in vain.

“Sub-committees were formed to examine the finances and recommend the quantum of benefits that can be extended. Appeals were also made to the teachers not to start an agitation in the interest of 10,000 students in the four DAV schools in the city but they decided to cease work from today,” said Mohanty.

Significantly, the staff members of the fourth DAV school at Gandarpur agreed to resume work while the teachers of other three DAVs did not respond the same way. Classes were suspended to prevent further inconvenience to the students.

The demand of the teachers is directly linked to the issue of tuition fee hike, which became contentious after the high court struck down the hike notified by DAV schools in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack for 2009-10. The Sixth Pay Commission has recommended higher salary for the teachers but the management maintains that it would not be possible to implement the recommendation without an effective hike in the fees. The teachers are currently being paid their salaries in keeping with the recommendations of the Fifth Pay Commission.

The issue of school fee hike has been generating controversy since private English medium school managements enhanced admission fees and tuition fees ranging between 50 and 100 per cent from the 2009-10 academic session on plea of implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations for both teaching and non-teaching staff.

The move was resisted by parents in different parts of the state, especially Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, forcing the state government to intervene. On March 27, 2009, the state government, however, issued an order allowing 25 per cent hike in tuition fees and 15 per cent hike in development fees by managing boards of those private English medium schools, which had intended to fall in line with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations.

The high court finally struck down the order 10 days ago on June 27.

Meanwhile, dissatisfaction among teachers of the DAV Public Schools in Bhubaneswar is also brewing. Principal of DAV Public School, Chandrasekharpur, K.C. Satpathy, said the teachers used to get an annual hike of 10 per cent but there has been no pay revision since 2008.

“Naturally, there is a great deal of discontentment among teachers. They have threatened to resort to similar agitations but through constant discussions, we have been able to dissuade them from doing so. But it is a fact that teachers are most neglected and no one thinks about their plight,” Satpathy said.