A group of higher secondary school teachers’ unions in Kerala, under the umbrella of the Federation of Higher Secondary Teachers’ Associations (FHSTA), is planning to stage protests outside district collectorates on September 29 seeking urgent release of the answer script evaluation allowance for the previous academic year.
The Aided Higher Secondary Teachers Association aligned with the Congress, the Kerala Aided Higher Secondary Teachers Association (KAHSTA), Higher Secondary School Teachers Association, and the Kerala Higher Secondary Teachers Union affiliated to the Indian Union Muslim League are part of the FHSTA.
Functionaries of the unions pointed out on Thursday that the invigilator duty allowance for exams held in March had not been released for long. After protests and official-level deliberations, the government recently promised to issue an order to release funds for the purpose. Only a portion of the evaluation duty allowance had been released so far too. Teachers in many subjects were yet to get this amount. They said there had been a delay in releasing the duty allowance for the Save A Year (SAY) exams, which were held recently. SAY exams are held to help students who failed in one or more subjects to clear the course in the same year.
Higher secondary school teachers claimed that their counterparts on duty for the SSLC exams and the evaluation of answer scripts were, however, getting their allowance without much delay.
K.K. Sreejesh Kumar, general secretary, KAHSTA, alleged that this was an example of the double standards of the General Education department. “Only a paltry sum, fixed in 2012, is being given to teachers as evaluation duty allowance. It is pitiable that even this amount is not being paid even months after the results are announced. These exams are held after levying fees from the students. If the dues are not cleared before the beginning of Plus Two improvement exams scheduled for October second week, the protests will be intensified,” he added.
The FHSTA is also planning a day-long ‘satyagraha’ outside the office of the Directorate of Higher Secondary Education, Thiruvananthapuram, on October 5.
