THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Around 12,000 ‘protected’ school teachers have not received their salary for the month of April owing to the alleged lackadaisical attitude of the Education Department officials.
The teachers who have been affected are those who were appointed prior to 2011. According to a Government Order issued this year, teachers who were appointed on a regular basis before 2011 were included in the ‘protected’ category.
As part of the fresh staff fixation carried out this year after a gap of five years, the Teacher-Pupil Ratio was fixed at 1:30 in lower primary schools, 1:35 in upper primary schools and 1:45 in classes IX and X. “Citing the revised teacher-pupil ratio, Education Department officials have claimed that there are no posts available in schools even for teachers who have been included in the protected category,” says A V Indulal, general secretary of the Kerala Aided Teachers Association.
According to Indulal, the Education Department officials have misinterpreted certain provisions of the latest Government Order relating to teachers’ package to deny salary for the protected teachers.
“Redeployment of teachers after staff fixation is the responsibility of the Education Department. Instead of fulfilling that responsibility, the Department has blocked the salary of teachers citing flimsy reasons,” he says.
Teachers associations have warned of protests including ‘gherao’ of Education Department officials if their salaries are not disbursed immediately.