Tension In Vijayawada As Teachers Caned, Arrested

Vijayawada: Tension prevailed at Vijayawada district collectorate when the police had to lathicharge and arrest several teachers, who turned out in large numbers to protest the move to close down primary and secondary schools.

In the name of clusterization of schools, the AP government has been mulling to shutdown government schools with attendance less than 10 students. The AP State Teachers' Union has been protesting against the proposal saying the decision was a violation of the Right To Education (RTE) Act.

Teachers in large number gathered at the District Collectorate to stage the protest. The teachers also protested against the unauthorised transfers of teachers and the web-counselling procedure used to transfer the teachers.

Scuffle broke out at one point between the teachers and the police during the protests and the teachers damaged the gates of the collectorate. The police resorted to lathicharge to disperse the teachers from the scene. Some of them were arrested and shifted to the police station.

Meanwhile, the teachers' union has called for a siege of DEO offices in every district.