Teachers angry over July 15 government order

The July 15 government order (GO), creating over 2,000 new teachers posts in the 368 higher secondary schools in the Malabar region, has invited the ire of different teachers unions in the State.

The new posts were created for the higher secondary additional batches sanctioned in 2011, and teachers have been working in the different schools since then.

But, as per the GO, the appointment has been given only from July 15 this year.

Also, the GO gives sanction only for 2,058 posts though the managements had appointed 2,642 teachers in as many as 550 batches in 368 aided higher secondary school. The appointments were made based on the stipulated student-teacher ration across the region.

The order, thus, rendera 584 teachers in different schools in the region jobless.

“This is a totally deceitful move from the part of the government and we are going to strongly protest against it,” said Joshy Antoney, president of the Kerala Aided Higher Secondary Teachers Association (KAHSTA).

The GO, according to him, violated the criteria followed by the subsequent governments in issuing post creation orders for the higher secondary schools for the last 22 years.

“The teachers are faced with the grim prospect of losing the entire service benefits and the salary for the last two years as a result of the order,” said Mr. Antoney.

Demanding that the order be revoked with immediate effect, association treasurer A. K. Abdul Hakkim said the KAHSTA would lead the agitations if the government was going ahead with its present decision. “The present GO is in clear violation of all the existing regulations,” said Mr. Hakkim.

Other unions including the Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA) and Kerala Higher Secondary Teachers Union (KHSTU) also came out against the decision.

While KSTA asked the government to review its decision and give retrospective effect to the appointment of teachers, the KHSTU threatened to organise different agitation programmes against the order. These organisations, among other things, also demanded the government to strictly implement the recommendations of the P.O.J. Labba Committee, constituted to study the problems in the higher secondary sector of the State.