KSTA marches to Kerala Secretariat over teachers' demands
Kerala School Teachers' Association held marches and dharnas in the capital and districts, pressing demands on pensions, pay and transfers.
The Kerala School Teachers' Association (KSTA) took out a march to the Secretariat and staged demonstrations at district centres on Saturday, pressing a range of demands concerning teachers in the State.
Scores of teachers joined the march and dharna, raising slogans through the day. The protest was directed at what the association described as the "anti-people" policies of both the Union and State governments.
Among the demands raised by the KSTA were job security for teachers and the rejection of the National Education Policy, 2020. The association also sought the repeal of the PFRDA Act and the implementation of the Old Pension Scheme.
Other demands included a pay revision, the release of dearness allowance arrears already sanctioned by order, and transparent procedures for transfers.
The KSTA alleged that the United Democratic Front government had decided to commercialise the education sector, rendering it unappealing and turning it into a tool for communalisation. It contrasted this with the position of the Left Democratic Front government, which, it said, extended financial benefits to teachers and other staff despite a financial crisis brought on by the Union government withholding funds to the State.