THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a display of their anguish towards the failed promise from the government, All Kerala Lower Primary School Teacher (LPST) Rank Holders’ Association secretary Valarmathi S shaved her head and entered into a fast-until-death strike here on Monday. Later in the day, she shared a video stating that the police refused to let them set up a canopy as protestors taking part in the hunger strike were sitting in the rain.
Reiterating their four major demands—reduction of student-teacher ratio to 1:25, inclusion of Head Teacher Vacancy (HTV) under the PSC’s umbrella, extend their rank list’s validity, and postpone issuing the new notification—the protestors said the education minister’s promise of addressing these stands unfulfilled. “The primary requirement is to reduce the student-teacher ratio, without which no more appointments can be done,” a protester said.
Valarmathi told TNIE that during their meeting with the minister on September 30, the authorities said they will issue an order accepting their demands once the protests were called off.
“Though the government sought 45 days, we were called for another discussion. While the minister agreed to all our demands, he refused to give it in writing, and insisted us to step back from the protests. The same authorities who told us that many of our decisions are impractical due to the financial crisis agreed to make appointments in aided schools. Won’t that cause a bigger financial crisis?” she said.