The Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s move to revise workload criterion for sanctioning teaching posts in aided arts and science colleges has stirred up a hornet’s nest.
Amidst the raging debate, two feeder organisations of the CPI(M) have adopted divergent stances, with one accusing the other of aligning with college managements to pressurise the government at a moment of crisis following the COVID-19 outbreak.
The Association of Kerala Government College Teachers (AKGCT) and the All Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association (AKPCTA), organisations representing the teaching communities in the public and private sectors respectively, appear to have locked horns.
In strongly worded open letters, several AKPCTA members have criticised both the Finance and Higher Education Departments for allegedly taking a unilateral decision and attempting to destroy the aided sector.
‘An injustice’
They claim that an injustice is being meted out to them by increasing their workload from 9 hours to 16 hours per week to sanction news posts, while a different set of norms prevailed in the government sector. The organisation has threatened to boycott all examination-related activities if the government went ahead with the move.
Taking a thinly veiled swipe, the AKGCT has criticised attempts made to coerce the government which has been facing a resource crunch that is set to worsen with the COVID-19 pandemic. Defending the government move, the association pointed out that the increased workload was in line with the guidelines prescribed by the University Grants Commission.
The implementation of the order was apparently a precondition for the Finance Department to fulfil its promise of creating 1,000 teaching posts in the aided sector. Through the move, the government has also virtually reversed its order of May 9, 2018, which had stipulated 16 teaching hours per week, but permitted creation of posts “when the remaining workload in a particular subject is 9 hours and above.”
Official sources said that the provision was found to be exploited by managements. They added that teachers who were appointed after the 2018 order would not lose their jobs, provided their appointments were legally tenable and made by selection panels that comprised government nominees.
