Schoolteacher suspended for Facebook post rejoins service

MALAPPURAM: Mar Thoma Higher Secondary School at Chungathara near Nilambur in the district has reinstated the schoolteacher who was suspended from service in December 2013 for allegedly stealing the diaries of a student and posting its pages on Facebook.
The zoology teacher B R Satheesh Kumar rejoined service on Friday in the wake of an order issued by Bishop Gregorios Mar Stephanos, the manager of Mar Thoma Institutions.
After the teacher approached the high court against the school management's decision to put him under suspension for a long period, the court ordered the management on March 10 to reinstate Kumar in service. But the school had delayed acting on the HC order for the last one week.
Satheesh Kumar had been suspended after the parent of a former higher secondary student lodged a complaint against him, saying the teacher had stolen the personal diary and school diary of his daughter, along with four of her photographs in January 2012. The teacher then published the first page of the girl's school diary on the social networking site on September 7, 2013. tnn
Kumar, however, approached the director of higher secondary education against the school management's decision to suspend him. The education director, in a special order issued in October, 2014, asked the school management to reinstate Kumar in service, citing serious procedural lapse in the disciplinary action taken by the school management. But the school management did not follow the order, following which Kumar approached the court two months ago.
Meanwhile, representative of the school management Fr K P Thomas informed that the school has no plan to file an appeal against the high court verdict.