The 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 of single-teacher schools in the State.
The intervention comes in the wake of reports that children’s education has suffered after a teacher of a single-teacher school in the Agasthymala hills in the district went on a hunger strike in protest against lack of salary for five months.
Denial of learning opportunities to children for any reason, including disruption in teachers’ salary, could not be justified. According to the reports, there were 270 single-teacher schools in the State. The nearly 5,000 students and teachers in these schools were facing hardship. The General Education Department should intervene in the matter immediately so that the educational rights of children could be protected, commission chairperson P. Suresh said.
Detailed study
The commission said a detailed study should be conducted on the condition of students in the single-teacher schools, their academic standards, support for academic activities, environment and physical infrastructure, teachers’ service and salary details, and availability of teaching learning materials and report submitted within three months.