Thiruvananthapuram, 28 Oct (H.S.): Lower Primary School Teacher (LPST) rank holders protesting over pending appointments have challenged the Kerala Chief Minister’s statement that four of their five demands had been accepted, demanding government orders to substantiate the claim.

Protest committee secretary S. Valarmathi accused the Chief Minister of misleading the Assembly and questioned his assertion that the Education Minister had held eight rounds of discussions with the protesters.

“Who did the minister meet? If action has been taken, the government should release the orders,” she said, asserting that the hunger strike would continue until their demands were accepted.

The protesters’ principal demand is to reduce the pupil-teacher ratio to 25 students per teacher. Valarmathi argued that without this change, no further appointments would be possible from the existing rank list.

She also accused the ruling side of reversing its position, saying those who had demanded a lower pupil-teacher ratio while in opposition were now questioning how such a reduction could be implemented immediately.

Responding to the issue in the Assembly the previous day, the Chief Minister maintained that the government had accepted four of the five demands raised by the protesters.

He said the Education Minister had met them eight times for discussions and questioned whether the ratio could immediately be brought down to one teacher for every 25 students.

The Chief Minister also criticised those highlighting photographs of Valarmathi’s tonsured head, alleging that they had ignored people who protested outside the Secretariat during the preceding five years.

The All Kerala LPSTA Rank Holders Association has been agitating over the failure to secure appointments despite candidates figuring in the recruitment rank list.

Valarmathi had tonsured her head in protest against what she described as persistent government neglect. She also said repeated attempts to meet the Chief Minister had failed, leaving their grievances unresolved.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman