Thiruvananthapuram: A complaint has emerged concerning the non-payment of salaries to temporary teachers in Kerala’s government schools for the past four months. Allegations suggest a lack of responsiveness from the education department towards resolving this issue.
Temporary teachers, employed on a daily wage basis to fill vacancies after last Onam, have yet to receive their due salaries. Despite the arrival of Christmas, these teachers remain unpaid, causing severe financial difficulties for their families.
Daily wage earners are typically paid through the Spark software system in the state, which necessitates a temporary PEN number (‘Permanent Employee Number’). These teachers have not received this number, resulting in their failure to process their salaries through the system.
This crisis started with the transfer of responsibility for allocating ID numbers from the Finance Department to the Education Department. Initially, the process was overseen by the Directorate of Public Education and then by the District Education Offices. But now, the authorities are uncertain about where to do the procedures.
Previously, teachers were provided with temporary PEN numbers within four days of joining their jobs. The teachers said that the government should speed up further action in the incident or they will end up with severe financial difficulties.
A similar crisis was reported during the last Onam festival, which was solved by the education department after considerable efforts.
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