India urges teachers - don't commit suicide

The authorities in the eastern Indian state of Orissa have appealed to thousands of teachers not to use suicide as a means of protest against educational reforms.

Seven teachers in the state's non-formal educational system, including three women, were badly burned on Friday when they tried to set themselves alight in protest against the loss of their jobs.

The state's education minister, Bhagabat Behera, told the BBC that his adminstration was trying its best to absorb all teachers into the new system ordered by the central government.

Mr Behera said the move followed suspicions that the old system was being politically manipulated. Almost 20,000 teachers in the non-formal sector have lost their jobs since the end of March.

Teachers will no longer move from place to place according to demand in rural areas - they will be attached to a particular centre and be expected to prove they have the required experience and qualifications

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service