The government should desist from the move to abolish 420 higher secondary teaching posts at the fag end of this academic year, terming them uneconomic owing to inadequate student strength, P. Ubaidulla, MLA, has said.
He was inaugurating a two-day day-and-night agitation organised by the Kerala Higher Secondary Teachers’ Union (KHSTU) in front of the Directorate of General Education in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday (February 27, 2025).
The MLA said it was ironic that when up to 65 or 70 students were packed together in a higher secondary classroom, higher secondary teachers were being redeployed, citing the lack of adequate students in a batch. If the government planned to go ahead with the decision, the Minister for General Education should clarify who would study and who would teach in the buildings built using Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board funds, he said.
KHSTU general secretary O. Shoukathali presided. Indian Union Muslim League State unit secretary Beemapally Rasheed spoke.
The KHSTU is protesting the move to redeploy permanent teachers after abolishing posts allegedly owing to the decline in number of students in higher secondary batches to below 25.
The problem can be addressed by capping the size of a batch at 50, instead of the current 65 as a result of marginal increase. This would cause the number of students in a government school batch to increase, it says.
Published – February 28, 2025 04:00 am IST