KPSMA to oppose Government decision

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Private School Managers’ Association (KPSMA) has opposed the decision that the aided school managements should get prior sanction from the State Government for making fresh appointments.The urgent general body meeting of the KPSMA will be held on August 16 to chalk out further course of action against the decision.The decision to insist on prior sanction for making fresh appointments was one of the provisions of the comprehensive package approved by the cabinet to ensure job protection to teachers.Association general secretary R M Parameswaran said that they could not seek prior sanction for appointments. This provision is against the Constitution and the National Education  Policy, he said.The provision that the appointments in aided schools should be made from the government list was a new version of the Section XI of the Education Bill brought out by former Education Minister Joseph Mundasserry in 1957, he said.The law regarding the maintenance grant has not changed during the past 50 years.As a result, the aided schools are not able to get their share of the various Central schemes, including the SSA funds and also the MP and MLA funds, he said.He said that the State Government should give approval to all appointments made after June 1 this year with retrospective effect.Meanwhile, the Private Graduate Teachers’ Association (PGTA), Kerala, has come out in support of the rehabilitation package.PGTA, Kerala, general secretary K R Jayakumar said that the decision to give approval and salary to all teachers who had been working for long periods was a humanitarian gesture.He said that the package would give job protection to all teachers with approval. This will help in boosting the confidence of the teachers which will result in better quality of education, ending the uncertainty in the education sector, he said.