The fate of 110 higher secondary junior English teachers in the State remains uncertain even as teachers’ associations have called for protecting these posts as supernumerary and ensuring job security for the teachers.
In a statement here on Sunday, the Kerala School Teachers Association (KSTA) State committee demanded that the 110 posts be protected as supernumerary, without any service break, and other benefits given to them.
The 110 posts are set to expire by the end of this month.
The KSTA said 63 teachers, who had secured appointment through the Kerala Public Service Commission but did not have adequate workload as per a staff fixation held after the government amended the condition for creating a higher secondary junior teacher post, had been retained in supernumerary posts.
Besides them, 47 teachers from a Higher Secondary School Teachers (junior) rank list that expired in 2016 and was later extended and who were entering service on the basis of a Supreme Court order were also retained in supernumerary posts by the government on the basis of a Cabinet decision in February. These teachers had also received advice memo from the PSC.
Following this, the Director of General Education issued an order that these posts would expire on March 31 and when regular posts arose, these teachers would be reappointed.
Steps should be taken to retain teachers who entered service through the PSC, KSTA general secretary N.T. Sivarajan said.
Recently, the Kerala Higher Secondary Teachers Union alleged that after the General Education department created the posts and made appointments, the Finance department refused to give its approval to them and a decision was taken by the Cabinet to cancel them. Higher secondary teachers had approached the Kerala Administrative Tribunal against the decision.
The KAT then observed that the government order ignored the Supreme Court order.
KHSTU general secretary Panakkad Abdul Jaleel demanded that teacher posts be created by March 31 and their job security ensured.
