The protest by part-time specialist teachers of the Samagra Shiksha Kerala (SSK) seeking an increase in honorarium was called off on Thursday.
This follows an assurance of honorarium hike to ₹13,400 and ₹1,608 as EPF (employer contribution) following talks with Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty.
At present, specialist teachers receive ₹10,000 as honorarium and 12% of that as EPF.
The hike will effected with retrospective effect from November 2022.
Specialist teachers will be eligible for leave and other benefits applicable to part-time employees.
They will have to work in two schools for three days a week. They will also need to attend plan meetings at Samagra’s block resource centres concerned one Saturday a month.
A decision on other issues faced by specialist teachers will be taken on the basis of a report to be submitted by the General Education Principal Secretary within three months, a statement from the Minister’s office said.
The specialist teachers, deployed under the Centrally-sponsored SSK to train students in art, physical education, and work experience, had been on a strike for the past 37 days.
They were appointed in 2016-17 and their pay was fixed at ₹29,000 a month at the time. Over the years, this came down to ₹10,000. After the EPF deduction, they were taking home a paltry ₹8,800, leading to widespread dissatisfaction.
The honorarium is shared on 60:40 basis between the Union government and the State. The Minister had earlier said that the Centre had slashed the honorarium to ₹6,000 with three days of work a week. The State’s share was ₹4,000. Following a round of talks with the protesting teachers, the Minister had promised to increase the honorarium to ₹12,000.
