more-in Teachers at Sreenarayana Vidyapeetam Public School in Thripunithura have decided to strengthen their agitation demanding better salary and other related benefits. The agitation, which began three days ago, will be intensified in the coming days as the management has not yet responded to the demands favourably, said the teachers affiliated to the Kerala Unaided School Employees Union here on Friday. Ligi Joseph, teacher and secretary of the union’s school unit, alleged that a teacher having 15 years of experience was getting a net salary of ?25,000. The corresponding salary for a teacher in a CBSE school, which has been providing salary as per the directives of the Kerala High Court in this regard, was about ?40,000. “Most of us had paid money to get appointment in the school,” she said. Divin Das M.D., a teacher of maths, said that a teacher who was receiving ?20,000 salary in 2013 had got a paltry increase of ?800 over the past five years. Hike on conditions “We had eight rounds of discussions with the District Labour Officer recently and three rounds of talks with the school authorities. They agreed to give a hike of ?1,000 to ?1,500 from April onwards, but under the condition that we would not ask for a salary hike for the next five years. “This could not be accepted as it violated the existing rules and regulations,” he said. Rejecting the allegations, Rakhi Prince, Principal of the school, said that the management was paying salary and other benefits as per the order issued by the Kerala High Court in this regard. It was unfortunate that a section of the teachers had gone on strike at a time when the exams were progressing, she said. The Principal said that the management had agreed to hike the salary. She agreed that the assurance was given on the condition that there would be no hike in the next five years. But that issue could be discussed, she said.

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