KASARGOD: The LDF government has once again appointed a non-Kannada speaking teacher in a Kannada medium school in the Kasaragod district. And livid parents and students have again hit the streets in protest.
Around 12.45 pm on Friday, Mohammed Shijeer S (36), a native of Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram district, reported at Government Higher Secondary School at Angadimogar in Puthige panchayat to join as a physical science teacher in Kannada division.
The glitch is he cannot utter a word in Kannada, let alone teach in Kannada.
Students, who were leaving the school after writing their Onam exams, got a whiff of his arrival and called in their parents. Together, they launched a massive protest and did not allow Shijeer to join duty.
"There will be a bigger protest on Monday. People will not allow him to join duty," said CPM leader and Puthige panchayat president Subbanna Alva.
Students said they would not write Monday's exam if Shijeer turned up on Monday.
"We will not allow the government to play with the future of our children. How can the PSC send ineligible teachers to our school?" said PTA president Mohammed Basheer, referring to the state government's recruitment agency Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC).
The school has around 1,000 students in Kannada and Malayalam sections. Shijeer has to teach Physics, Chemistry, and Biology to students in classes 8, 9, and 10 in the Kannada division.
He does not know Kannada but he has come with the appointment order from the Deputy Director of Education (DDE) Pushpa K V, said head teacher Shahul Hameed.
Pushpa said she was forced to issue the appointment order because Shijeer came with an order from the Kerala Administrative Tribunal.
The Kerala PSC, after finding him eligible to teach in Kannada, gave Shijeer the job advice memo to teach physical science in Kannada medium school in Kasaragod.
Based on the vacancy, the DDE appointed him to Government High School at Moodambail in Meenja grama panchayat on October 30, 2019. But parents and students found out Shijeer did not know Kannada and did not allow him to join.
Shijeer then asked the DDE to give him a job in her office. But as there was no provision for it, the DDE forwarded his letter to the Directorate of General Education in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Directorate of General Education extended his joining date and asked him to join the Central Institute of Indian Languages in Mysuru for a 10-month diploma course to master Kannada.
The directorate assured him that he would be appointed to a Kannada medium school after he completes the Kannada language course.
But instead of going to Mysuru, he sent petitions to the chief minister, the State Human Rights Commission, and the Kerala Administrative Tribunal.
"The department told the tribunal that he did not know Kannada and was not fit to teach in a Kannada medium school. But the tribunal overruled us," said DDE Pushpa.
The tribunal said Shijeer cleared the competitive exam and the PSC's Kasaragod district officer has recommended him for the post of a high school teacher in a Kannada medium school. But since he has given an affidavit saying he did not know how to read and write in Kannada, he should be allowed to do the 10-month course in the institute in Mysuru after joining the school in Angadimoger, the tribunal said.
It also ruled that he should be given the salary and all benefits of employment.
Based on the order of the tribunal, the DDE gave him the appointment order on August 19 and asked him to join in 10 days.
"The 10th day ends on August 29. The parents and people will not allow him to join," said panchayat president Alva.
Education officials said Shijeer was insisting on continuing in the school till he got admission to the language institute in Mysuru.
"We cannot allow that. We can hire an ad hoc teacher who knows Kannada only if he goes on leave. We cannot keep him here, pay his salary and deny education to our students," said an official.
Around 10 non-Kannada speaking teachers have been appointed in Kannada medium schools based on the advice of PSC.
And every time, the government ignored the plight of the students and the protest of their parents and pressed for the appointment.
"It is a gross injustice to the students and reflects the neglect faced by the district," said Saritha S N, CPI leader and chairperson of the District Panchayat's Standing Committee for Education and Health.
"The PSC cannot mindlessly fill up the posts in Kasaragod, especially in remote Kannada-speaking areas," she said.
The least the PSC could do was check if the candidate knew Kannada, said Ajayakumar Kodoth, a former member of the PSC.
"When the case came up before the tribunal, it could have hired a language expert and checked if he knew Kannada. End of the day, it is the poorest children who are going to suffer because of these administrative decisions," he said.
Phone calls made to the Director of General Education Jeevan Babu K, who was earlier the collector of Kasaragod district, went unanswered.