Officials cite lack of clarity on payment for teachers appointed on daily wages
Around 200 guest teachers in government higher secondary schools in Malabar region have alleged denial of salary after resumption of offline classes. They also claimed they were being paid a paltry sum when the pandemic forced academic sessions to the online mode earlier.
A guest teacher working in a government higher secondary school in Wayanad district said on Tuesday that those hired as senior teachers were asked to work for six days and junior teachers three or four days a week. Senior teachers are to be paid ₹1,455 and juniors ₹1,209 a day. He alleged that some of the principals had held an unofficial meeting at the Regional Deputy Director’s office in Kozhikode and decided that since these teachers were attending classes only till the afternoon, they should be given only half of the salary. This was applicable to the teachers in Kozhikode, Kannur, and Wayanad districts.The guest teacher alleged that the principals were wary of possible objections by the audit department.
“There is no government order to this effect. Though the classes are there only till the afternoon, most of us wind up the academic work only by the evening,” he said. Sources said that the salary denial was more prevalent in the Malabar region than central and southern districts.
When classes were being held in the online mode, these people were paid ₹2,000 a month from the PTA fund. A junior guest teacher from Kozhikode district said that her principal had bluntly told her that it was not possible to give a full day’s salary. Incidentally, the guest teachers in lower primary, upper primary, and high school classes are given full day’s salary, she said.
Sources in the Regional Deputy Director’s office said there was some lack of clarity about the salary payment of teachers appointed on daily wages who are handling the classes earlier handled by principals. An official said that these temporary appointments were actually yet to be ratified by the Higher Secondary Education section. A clarification had been sought from the government on the issue, he said.
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