The outbreak of COVID-19 has compounded the misery of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the Pariyaram Medical College Public School.
While they have not been paid salaries for the past 19 months, the spread of the disease has further worsened their situation as they struggle to make ends meet.
The school that started in 2003 was earlier functioning under the Academy of Medical Science (ACME), which was a charitable trust controlled by the Kerala State Cooperative Hospital Complex (KSCHC), that along with the Centre for Advanced Medical Service, was running the Kannur Medical College, Pariyaram. However, after the government took over the KSCHC and ACME, the school also came under its fold, said school Principal K. Shibu.
The Health department, which initially took charge of the school, decided to hand it over to the Education department.
But since March 2019 when the decision was taken, the administrative procedure in this regard had not been completed, he said.
“We are waiting for the procedure to be complete and the staff to be paid their salaries pending for the past 19 months,” said Jyothi Babu, a teacher who is also suffering from health complications. She said her husband, who was an artist, has had no job since the pandemic outbreak. With salary being denied for the past several months, her family had been unable to meet even the basic necessities, Ms. Babu said.
Plea ignored
Despite submitting a petition to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, the Education Minister, and MLAs, no steps had been taken to resolve the issue, she lamented. K. Hemalatha, another teacher in the school, said that many teachers were suffering from serious ailments. Now, they did not have the money even to purchase medicines, she rued.
The school syllabus was changed from CBSE to the State Board after the government took over. The strength of students too has increased.
This was due to the continuous efforts of the teaching and non-teaching staff here, she said.
Another teacher said that they were now ineligible for the medical benefits that they used to get earlier from the Employees State Insurance Corporation.
‘File stuck in Secretariat’
T.V. Rajesh, local MLA, said there was a procedural delay as it was for the first time that an unaided school was being taken over.
The authorities had a series of meetings in this regard and a proposal had been sent to the Finance department for its approval. The files were stuck in the Secretariat due to the COVID-19 crisis, he said.