The career of hundreds of students has been put at stake by St. Joseph Higher Secondary School in Baramulla district of north Kashmir due to the suspension of the teaching process.
The teachers and other staff members of the school have been on strike for the past one week demanding a pay hike along with other demands, due to which the administration of the school has called off the classes.
The teachers allege that the school administration promises to increase staff salaries by 6 per cent annually, but this process has been stopped after the covid 19 pandemic in the last two years. “The school administration recently announced a nominal increase in our salaries, which is not acceptable to us,” a teacher said.
Classes were suspended all the classes on Saturday and since then, there have been no classes, they said.
Meanwhile, the school issued a notice asking parents not to send their children to school for the time being.
The notice states: “It is with a heavy heart that I have to inform you about the suspension of regular academic activities for your ward in the School as we apprehend disruption of classes by outside vested interests which could put at risk the safety and security of our students in the campus.”
“While we maintain full faith in the capabilities of our employees, we would not like to put the well-being, safety, and security of our students at risk. I understand that loss in academic activities means a lot at these difficult times especially as we limb back to normalcy from all disruptions. However, I hope good sense prevails and we are able to commence regular academics at the earliest,” the notice read.