Kerala to bear Rs 700 crore more to pay aided teachers

Thiruvananthapuram: Bowing to the pressure from community organisations, most teacher appointments made by private aided managements between 2010-11 and 2014-15 will be regularised by the state government. Sources said the total outgo following the dilution of 1997 protection norms in the aided sector will work out to Rs 700 crore a year.

The finance department had earlier opposed the move to regularise the appointments made by aided managements to specialist teachers’ posts without prior government sanction.

The file is now pending before Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) Dr K M Abraham. In early July, leaders of various community organizations met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and other ministers, demanding that there cannot be any dilution in their statutory right for appointments.

The government had to forgo its discretion on protection teacher appoint from the existing pool and allow managements the freedom in appointments on regular division vacancies.

The final decision on the revised order, granting protection to all teachers appointed against regular vacancies up to 2014-15 is expected in a week. This will be based on the staff fixation pattern prevalent in 2010-11.  

A teachers’ bank was formed in 2011 as part of the teachers package with a total of 8,046 teachers by incorporating 3,389 teachers working without salary, 1,700 who had lost their jobs due to shortage of students and 2,987 protected teachers who became excess due to the division fall. Aided school teachers who were in service as on July 14, 1996 were eligible for protection.

The decision was to appoint specialist teachers in both the government and aided schools from the teachers' bank. Specialist teachers teach subjects like physical education, arts, health education and work experience.

As per a recent Cabinet decision, sanction would be given to those appointments after 2011-12 against retirement, death, resignation, promotion and transfer only on the teachers’ posts fixed in 2010-11. This will be according to the teacher-pupil ratio of 1:30 and 1:35 for lower primary and upper primary schools respectively.

However, appointments made from 2015-16 academic year would be made as per 1:40 and 1:45 ratio.

While community leaders wanted 1:30, 1:35 ratio to be implemented for all appointments, the finance department said that this would incur an additional expenditure of Rs 777 crore.

Fresh appointments of teachers would be based on the student headcount held on the sixth working day this academic year. Vacancies would have to be notified to the government and the government has to respond within one month.

If the government does not respond within the time, managers can go ahead with appointments under the presumption that approval has been received.