Rights panel seeks report on single-teacher schools in Thiruvananthapuram

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala state commission for protection of child rights has directed the state government to submit a comprehensive report on the difficulties faced by students and teachers attached to single-teacher schools across the state.
The commission chairperson P Suresh asked the education department to submit the report within three months. The commission intervention comes in the wake of the reports that a teacher in charge of a single-teacher school at Kunnathumala near here has been observing hunger strike in protest against non-payment of salary for the past five months.
The denial of learning opportunities to children on whatever reasons, including teacher strike owing to non-payment of salary, could not be accepted. According to reports, there are 270 single-teacher schools across the state and around 5,000 students depend on these schools for their education.
The government should immediately intervene to put an end to the plight of the single-teacher schools so that the educational rights of children could be protected.
The commission asked the general education secretary to submit a detailed report on single-teacher schools. The report should describe the condition of students in single-teacher schools, their academic standards, support available for their academic activities, infrastructure facilities, the service and salary details of teachers and availability of teaching learning materials.
Though the government had decided in October last to increase the salary of teachers in charge of single-teacher schools. But, it was claimed that such teachers haven’t received their salaries since then. Children in forest areas pursue their studies through single-teacher schools. The commission has the responsibility to ensure that students in forest areas also get ample education opportunities as promised by the Right to Education Act, it said.