THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An attempt by the state government to end the month-long strike by members of the All Kerala Lower Primary School Teacher Rank Holders’ Association in front of the Secretariat here failed, with the protesters deciding to continue their agitation.
The rank holders have been demanding immediate appointments from the PSC rank list for the post of Lower Primary School Teacher, which was published more than a year ago.
Valarmathi S, secretary of the association, has been on an indefinite hunger strike for the past six days as part of the agitation. Early on Tuesday, S Rajesh, additional private secretary to General Education Minister N Samsudheen, visited the strike venue to hand over the minister’s official note urging the protesters to call off their agitation.
According to a press release issued by the minister’s office, the government had requested a two-month time-frame to study the matter when the association representatives met the minister in person last week.
“The minister informed the protesters of the government’s decision in writing. The protesters were also informed that the government is ready to intervene urgently regarding their demands and take remedial action by considering their requests favourably,” said a senior government official.
Meanwhile, Balkees K F, vice-president of the association, said the government’s assurance of finding a solution within two months was merely an “attempt to buy time.” “The government has not given us any concrete assurance. They somehow want to call off this agitation through an eyewash. Hundreds of rank holders will not fall for such empty assurances,” she said.
A section of the rank holders also alleged that the government wants to hurriedly wrap up the agitation to approve thousands of appointments made by managements in aided schools over the past few years.
“The government is wary of a huge public backlash if it carries out such large-scale ratification of aided school appointments when deserving rank holders are still awaiting appointment,” said Bichu M, association member.
Besides appointments, the demands of the agitators include refixing the teacher-student ratio in government LP schools to 1:25 to prevent division fall. They have also demanded the implementation of an appointment procedure in aided schools at a 1:1 ratio - one PSC appointment for every one management appointment.
Furthermore, the agitators have demanded an extension of the validity period of the current LPST rank list published on May 31, 2025, alongside postponing the notification for the next rank list to an appropriate time to ensure maximum appointment opportunities for candidates on the current list.
