THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government assured the Kerala High Court on Thursday that it would settle the outstanding dues owed to government and aided schools for the operation of the mid-day meal scheme.
Several media outlets, including Janam TV, have reported that the Head Masters of schools in Kerala have yet to receive a substantial sum of Rs 130 crore. This money was spent for mid-day meal scheme for students over the past three months. The government’s failure to allocate these funds has placed an undue financial burden on the school Head Masters, compelling some of them to resort to additional collections from the teachers in order to bridge the financial gap.
The government provided this assurance during the court’s consideration of a plea submitted by the Kerala Pradesh School Teachers’ Association and the Head Masters of specific government and aided schools.
Teachers also expressed their concerns to the court regarding the potential discontinuation of the scheme if the state does not release the arrears in a timely manner.
The plea additionally sought a directive to the Director of General Education to relieve the Head Masters of their responsibility for running the scheme and instead entrust it to an independent agency, as is the practice in other states. The Head Masters association emphasized that such a change in responsibility would free up their time to focus on teaching and academic duties.
It is noteworthy that in many government schools in Kerala, teachers are declining promotions to the position of Head Masters due to the financial burdens associated with the role. Over the past three years, more than 500 teachers in government schools have turned down promotions to the Headmaster position.
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