The General Education department will take action to prevent the loss of teacher posts, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said.
The Minister, in a statement here on Thursday, said the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government had made strong interventions that resulted in an increase in the number of students in State schools in the past six years and in retention of teachers’ posts. Some schools, however, could not keep pace with these developments. Such schools could experience loss of posts owing to a drop in the number of students.
In the 90s, the LDF government had announced complete protection of posts and teachers till 1997. The United Democratic Front (UDF) government that came to power in 2011 took away this protection and included the protected teachers in the teachers’ bank with payment only of minimum salary. The LDF government that came to power next redeployed teachers in teaching posts and protected them, giving all entitlements.
In the present scenario, the government would address the problems of teachers, including those in high school, who stood to lose posts. Teachers need not have any apprehensions on this score, said Mr. Sivankutty.
The government had earlier this month decided to revise the teacher-student ratio of 1:40 in high schools to 1:45. The Kerala School Teachers’ Association (KSTA) had then urged the government to re-examine the order that had resulted in teachers losing the long-standing benefit of protection.
