THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) on Thursday registered a case in the incident in which a national award-winning teacher was employed as a sweeper.
Chairman Antony Dominic also served notices on the general education department secretary and the directorate of public instruction after a petition sought the panel’s intervention.
TNIE had on Thursday published the report highlighting the plight of K R Usha Kumari, who taught in a Multi-Grade Learning Centre (MGLC) at Kunnathumala in Amboori for 23 years until its closure on March 31.
Usha was then posted as a sweeper in the Government Higher Secondary School in Peroorkada, Thiruvananthapuram, and started work when schools reopened on Wednesday.
In his petition, Mujeeb Rahman P T of Prathikarana Vedi said Usha, who taught students in a remote tribal area for over two decades, was asked to work as a sweeper by the government.
“It is an insult to her,” he said in his petition. In the capital district alone, 14 MGLC teachers joined schools in Attingal, Kilimanoor and Varkala as sweepers.
Their salary scale starts at `23,000, which is the only solace as they earned `19,000 per month as MGLC teachers.
Welcoming KSHRC’s intervention, Usha said, “We only demand that we be appointed to the office assistant post which has the same minimum basic qualification as that of MGLC teachers. There is also uncertainty regarding our pension. I taught in the MGLC for 23 years and have only six years until retirement in the new post. When our pension is calculated, our total years of service should be considered.
The state government on March 31 closed down 272 MGLCs in tribal areas, that employed 344 teachers in total. The move was part of the initiative to integrate tribal students to regular schools."